“Cardio must be cooked” – UFC star Carlos Prates ’10-15 cigarettes’ admission has fans in shock

Known smoker and top-15 UFC ranked fighter Carlos Prates goes viral for his admission, right before UFC Kansas City headliner.

“Cardio must be cooked” – UFC star Carlos Prates ’10-15 cigarettes’ admission has fans in shock

Carlos Prates confesses to ungodly amount of smoke (Source: X)

UFC 170-pound contender Carlos Prates is one of the most prominent young stars on the 2025 roster. In just a handful of fights inside the cage, Prates has dominated the competition. This includes a brutal finish in his first UFC main event spot in his most recent outing. Nevertheless, Prates’ smoking habit has fight fans increasingly concerned.

Carlos Prates is a proper breakout story of the 2024 UFC class. His do-not-care, smoke-it-off attitude also resonated with fans. His wild side, and yet producing proper KO highlights is quite reminiscent of who and what Nate Diaz and the like have continued to be. However, just a while back, top-15 ranked welterweight ‘Nightmare’ yet again revealed smoking some 10 to 15 cigarettes in a bizarre admission.

[How many[… Normal day? Maybe 10, 15 cigarettes, …maybe.

Carlos Prates in a Full Violence ™ YT vlog (@Full_Violence)
YouTube video

Prates was supposed to face another UFC big hitter, Geoff Neal, on the UFC 314 PPV main card in Miami on April 12. However, just a few weeks before the event, Neal pulled out due to injury. He now faces Ian Garry at the UFC Kansas City (UFC on ESPN 66) event headliner, April 26 in Kansas. It’s quite a skills test that could be a tough running for both of them.

Prates often douses that his smoking habit does not hamper his output skill, and it shows. He went through Neil Magny, a veteran 170-pound gatekeeper, in his last fight night outing. Now, he plans to make it 2-0 in a headlining state. However, fight fans are concerned about this admission before a bigger test at Kansas City. Hence, the matter has gotten many such responses, worried about the state of the fighter.

Fight fans react to Carlos Prates

Carlos Prates isn’t shy about his love of cigarettes, sometimes taking a puff just before making the walk to the octagon on fight day. Prior to his most recent fight vs. Neil Magny, Prates attempted to smoke just minutes before making the walk, before UFC security personnel intervened.

Fans react to the UFC Kansas City headliner fighter
Fans react to the UFC Kansas City headliner fighter (Source: X)

Brazil’s Prates had a banner 2024 season campaign. While 21-6 MMA, he is off to a good 4-0 start in UFC. The UFC DWCS alum reeled up four wins with four stoppages and POTN fight bonuses. He has gone through Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke, Li Jingliang, and Magny all before round two.

While he is hardly lacking in talent, smoking can’t be a good health driver for anyone, not even Carlos Prates. Hence, here is what fans think of his admission:

A timeline for Neal’s injury recovery and return was unknown at the time, but Prates did tease some exciting news right away. The UFC Kansas City headliner is now off to a great matchup. Hence, it has piled up great anticipation amongst fans. The admission of smoking so much and so often had many on edge.

Most fans have unanimously said so much smoking is a deterrent to a long career or high-altitude scrappers. A prominent reaction (@druq3rnaut) even postulated, “His cardio must be COOKED!” Only time will tell if Prates can hold on to his infamy, or if cardio is where he fails to become akin to the Diaz family and their gangster notoriety.

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