Carlos Prates' fighting nickname 'The Nightmare' has a surprising origin unrelated to his fighting style. The moniker stems from a character named Pesadelo (Portuguese for 'Nightmare') from the popular 2000s Brazilian children's show 'Sítio do Picapau Amarelo' (Yellow Woodpecker's Farm). Prates' friends believed he resembled this TV character and began calling him by that name. The childhood nickname eventually transitioned seamlessly into his professional fighting persona. While the author notes seeing no resemblance between Prates and the character, the nickname has become an integral part of the fighter's identity.
Carlos Prates carries one of the more recognizable nicknames in the welterweight division, but the story behind "The Nightmare" has nothing to do with knockouts or submission attempts — it comes from a beloved Brazilian children's television show.
According to a recent report, Prates earned the moniker after friends decided he resembled a character named Pesadelo — Portuguese for "Nightmare" — from the popular 2000s Brazilian series "Sítio do Picapau Amarelo," loosely translated as "Yellow Woodpecker's Farm." The childhood tag stuck, eventually following Prates into the professional fighting world and becoming inseparable from his identity inside the cage.
The 32-year-old Brazilian southpaw-turned-switch-stance fighter currently sits ranked fifth in the UFC welterweight division with a professional record of 24-7-0. Training out of Vale Top Team, Prates stands six-foot-one with a 78-inch reach, giving him a significant physical presence at 170 pounds. His output inside the octagon backs up the ominous nickname regardless of its origins — he lands 3.77 significant strikes per minute at a 55 percent striking accuracy rate, numbers that place him among the more precise and active strikers in the division.
Why it matters
- The nickname backstory adds a rare human-interest dimension to one of the welterweight division's most dangerous ranked fighters
- Prates at number five carries genuine title-contention relevance, meaning his name and persona will face increased scrutiny as he climbs
- The cultural connection to a well-known piece of Brazilian pop culture reinforces his roots and identity heading into the later stages of his career
