Multiple UFC fighters including Cory Sandhagen, Jorge Masvidal, Dean Thomas, and Dustin Poirier have offered detailed breakdowns of Carlos Prates's striking techniques that defeated an opponent referred to as "DDM." Sandhagen highlighted Prates's unique springing knee strikes delivered with exceptional power, noting how Prates transitions the knee setup into high kicks that wrap around the head, which works especially well against southpaws due to shoulder height differences. He praised the technique as "mega, mega high level" and noted Prates's chopping elbows that broke through DDM's defensive block, something Sandhagen couldn't achieve against Petr Yan. Masvidal emphasized how Prates's knees covered massive distance and how the threat alone shut down DDM's clinch work and body punching, calling it "Mortal Kombat level" work, while acknowledging Islam Makhachev's wrestling would pose serious problems. Thomas noted the knees were well-disguised within Prates's hand combinations, and Poirier observed that Prates showed no fear of takedowns, which allowed him to throw knees more aggressively. The consensus among the veterans was that Prates displayed some of the highest-level knee work seen in recent UFC competition.
