‘You can’t buy time’: With family in attendance, UFC Perth is all about making family proud for Carlos Prates

“I grew up without a father,” Prates said. “My father died when I was a year and a half old, and then I met my ‘father,’ Cris [Nogueira, his coach], when I was 15 years old, so I know how it is. Of course, I wouldn’t want to be far away. Of course I’d like to have her with me [in Brazil], but it’s something my coach [Wagner] Motta always teaches me: let’s do the best we can with the conditions we have right now. And the condition I have right now is seeing her two or three times a year. If I could, I’d bring her here and she’d stay with me. If I could live there too, cool. But unfortunately that’s not the case, and we have to deal with it this way.”

Prates said he felt “fine” growing up without a father until Vale Top Team head coach Nogueira became a father figure for him. That doesn’t mean he wants others to have the same experience.

“I grew up without a father and it didn’t make a difference to me because it was normal,” Prates said, “But I wouldn’t like my daughter to feel that way too, to think like that.”

The Sao Paulo native has seen success in the UFC, winning six of seven octagon appearances, all by knockout, and with performance bonuses cashed for every single one of them. Soon to turn 33 and with over 100 muay Thai bouts under his belt, plus 30 MMA contests, Prates doesn’t see himself doing this for much longer.

“Time is something you don’t get back,” Prates said. “You can’t buy time. Time is passing and I’m working like crazy, you know? Yesterday I saw my mom, but it had been like three days since I’d last seen her because things have been hectic. My mom is already in her seventies, I need to enjoy time with her and be with her, you know?”

Prates could earn a shot at the belt with a win Saturday, beating two former champions in a row after his latest knockout over Leon Edwards, and he wants to write his name in the history books. Ironically, the most exhausting part of his fighting career isn’t the fighting.

“What’s most exhausting is the bureaucracy, having to deal with problems that have nothing to do with fighting,” Prates said. “These days I’m managing to delegate more to the people who work with me, but not everything yet. Everything that’s not related to fighting wears me out. I think not just me, it wears everyone out.”

Claiming bonuses for every win adds many zeros to your bank account, and Prates said everything is done to provide a better future for those around him.

“Lucas [Lutkus] is a manager who, besides taking care of the fighting side, also looks after us on the financial side,” Prates said. “There’s a whole team that works with me. There’s a financial advisor, my accountant. If it were just me, there are things I wouldn’t even know exist [laughs]. If I had to do everything alone, I’d be screwed.”