Carlos Prates proves himself as a potential star at welterweight following a first-round KO of veteran Neil Magny in main event of UFC Vegas 100

Neil Magny has had 42 MMA fights, with 34 of those coming in the UFC. He's only been knocked out four times, but the last two have come in back-to-back outings.

And while the end of Magny's career might be closer than the beginning, those two KO defeats don't signify any issue with Mangy's chin or with his ability to take shots. It's just that in his last two outings, he may have faced the two men who are unquestionably the future of the UFC's welterweight division.

On Aug. 24, Magny was knocked out at 4:39 of the first round by prospect Michael Morales, a win that vaulted Morales into the Top 15 in the division. And on Saturday, Magny went down at 4:50 of the first to another elite prospect, Carlos Prates, who undoubtedly will be ranked in the Top 15 when the new ratings come out Tuesday.

Prates and Morales are both future stars who could win up battling for supremacy at 170 pounds one day.

After the bout, Prates said there was no pressure fighting a veteran in the main event. Since he earned his contract at Dana White's Contender Series in 2023, Prates has gone 4-0 with four KOs, finishing Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke, Li Jingliang and, on Saturday, Magny.

The pressure, Prates said, came when he was living in Thailand and learning his craft and didn't have any money.

"There wasn't any pressure," Prates said. "There was pressure when I was in Thailand ... I had no money. When I was in Brazil, I was in the streets doing wrong things. Now, I make a lot of money fighting in the UFC. I came to the U.S. and I rented a really cool house in Vegas with my friends. They are like my family. I have a really good, really nice life. My Mom's with me and she's really happy. So there's no pressure. I just come here and do what I love."

Prates was 5-4 after nine fights and reminding exactly no one  of a potential future champion. But he said he was in the wrong weight class, wasn't training properly and wasn't getting the right coaching.

He went to Thailand and it turned his career, and yes, his life around. He's now won 11 in a row and 13 of 14 and is looking every bit like a guy who will one day be a championship contender in the division.

He has a young daughter in Sydney, Australia, so he hopes to make it on the UFC 312 card, which is Feb. 8 in Sydney, Australia. He called out No. 4 Jack Della Maddalena, another elite striker, which would be a banger of a match.

Alternatively, he said he'd like Geoff Neal, who is coming off of an impressive finish of Rafael dos Anjos last month at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

He has the talent to go a long way in this sport, and he has the personality to become an iconic figure within it. He's been compared to the great Anderson Silva, and while Silva is one of the best to ever do it and Prates is still making his way up the ladder, with each passing outing it doesn't like like that much of a stretch to make.

Carlos Prates has arrived, and he's going to be here for a while judging from the early returns.