Carlos Prates has achieved the fastest accumulation of seven knockout victories in UFC history, reaching the milestone in just eight fights. The previous record holders were heavyweights Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, who needed nine fights. Out of 2,710 fighters who have competed in the UFC over 33 years, only 62 (2.29%) have ever achieved seven knockouts. Prates also holds the record for fastest 14 knockdowns in UFC history, accomplished in just 17 incomplete rounds, giving him the highest average knockdown rate per 15 minutes of fight time. Additionally, he's the fastest to earn seven Performance of the Night bonuses, doing so in eight fights compared to the average of 15 fights. The post notes that Prates has knocked out two former UFC champions who had never been finished before, including one who fell to leg kicks while in peak form. The author suggests that if Islam Makhachev defeats Ian Garry, Prates, and Shavkat Rakhmonov, he would surpass Jon Jones as the greatest of all time.
Carlos Prates has rewritten the UFC record books, becoming the fastest fighter in the promotion's history to accumulate seven knockout victories, reaching that milestone in just eight appearances inside the Octagon.
The previous record was held jointly by heavyweight legends Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, who each needed nine fights to reach seven knockouts. Velasquez, now 43, finished his UFC career at 14-3-0 and was long regarded as one of the most physically dominant heavyweights the sport had seen. That Prates surpassed him — and did so as a welterweight, where finishes are historically harder to come by — underscores just how exceptional the Brazilian's power and finishing instinct have been.
The records do not stop there. Prates also holds the UFC mark for the fastest accumulation of 14 knockdowns, achieving that total across just 17 incomplete rounds, giving him the highest average knockdown rate per 15 minutes of fight time in the promotion's 33-year history. He is also the fastest fighter to earn seven Performance of the Night bonuses, collecting them across eight fights against a promotional average of 15. Of the 2,710 fighters who have competed in the UFC, only 62 — roughly 2.29 percent — have ever recorded seven knockouts. Prates has done it faster than all of them.
Among his victims are two former UFC champions who had never previously been finished, including one who was stopped by leg kicks while considered to be in peak form.
Why it matters
- Prates' records span multiple statistical categories, making the achievement broader than a single highlight-reel run.
- Reaching these milestones at welterweight, a deeper and more competitive division, adds significant weight to the numbers.
- The conversation around Prates is now intersecting with pound-for-pound and all-time discussions, with his name mentioned alongside Shavkat Rakhmonov — the undefeated Kazakh ranked third at welterweight — as a benchmark for greatness in the division.
- Jon Jones, whose all-time legacy sits at 28-1-0, has been invoked as a reference point for how the sport measures its greatest champions, further illustrating the historical scale being applied to current welterweight contenders.
