Multiple UFC fighters offered technical breakdowns of Carlos Prates' knee strikes in his recent victory. Cory Sandhagen highlighted how Prates' left knee changed the fight, noting that he generates power not from stepping but by springing his entire body upward, and that Prates mixed the knee threat with high kicks that wrapped around the head when DDP was in southpaw stance. Sandhagen also praised Prates' use of elbows to break through DDP's guard, calling it a unique, mega-high level technique that Sandhagen himself cannot physically replicate due to shoulder limitations. Jorge Masvidal emphasized how Prates covered so much distance with his knees and that the knee threat alone shut down DDP's body work and close-range boxing, calling it some of the best knee work he's seen in a long time, while cautioning that Islam Makhachev's wrestling would pose a nightmare scenario if he secured an early takedown. Dustin Poirier noted that Prates showed no fear of takedowns when throwing knees, which allowed him to attack more aggressively, and Dean Thomas observed that Prates' knees were difficult to see as he mixed them seamlessly with his punching.
