Carlos Prates Admits to Smoking Cigarettes During Camp, On Fight Day

Carlos Prates certainly doesn’t function like most elite fighters.

Prates knocked out Charlie Radtke with a knee to the body at UFC on ESPN 57 on Saturday. Prates was seen smoking a cigarette when he found out that he would be returning home with a $50,000 bonus for his performance.

Before finding out about his bonus win, Prates revealed that he had smoked even on the day of the fight. Having spent more years of his life as a smoker than as a non-smoker, it is now just a part of the routine for “Carlao.”

“I think I smoke since [I was] 15 years old,” Prates told Full Send MMA. “I have more time living smoking than without smoking. So for me it’s normal, I smoke before the fight, on the day of the fight, it’s normal. Now we here in Louisville, so I try to go drink some whiskey because here is capital of whiskey and I really like whiskey.”

Prates also admits that’s he is a difficult fighter to work with due to his lifestyle habits. The 30-year-old, who identifies more as a fighter than as an athlete, claims to face a lot of criticism for choosing the high life. However, Prates doesn’t lack when it comes to putting in the work and is glad that his father and coach have found a way to work around that.

“I don’t know is it’s nice to say that or not, but I’m not the guy like I’m athlete. I like to say I’m fighter, I’m not athlete,” Prates said. “Everybody say bad things because sometimes I go to party or smoke cigarettes and drink. Of course, it’s not good but I know how to find a way… When I come to train, I’m the first guy to come to the gym and the last one to leave the gym. And I think because of my lifestyle people sometimes they say s—t or bad things. But my coach Pablo Flabio and my daddy Chris they know how to work with me.”

Prates had a heated face-off with Radtke leading up to their fight. Prates claims he could feel Radtke’s fear when they went forehead to forehead and already knew he was winning. Prates could be seen speaking to Radtke’s teammate and upcoming UFC welterweight title challenger Belal Muhammad after his win. The Brazilian revealed that he called out “Remember the Name” for a future clash in the heat of the moment.

A veteran on the regional scene, Prates has finished 17 of his 19 career wins so far, including two in the UFC.