Sean Brady: Michael Morales harder test for Islam Makhachev than Carlos Prates

Sean Brady explains why he sees Michael Morales presenting more of a challenge to Islam Makhachev than Carlos Prates.

UFC welterweight champion Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) is fresh off a title defense over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330. Vying for the next title shot are Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Morales (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), but Makhachev sees Prates as the more worthy contender.

After suffering his first UFC loss to Machado Garry, Prates rebounded with three-straight stoppage wins over Geoff Neal, Leon Edwards, and Jack Della Maddalena. Meanwhile, Morales' most recent win came in a first-round TKO of Brady at UFC 322.

"I think Prates can knock anybody out, for sure," Brady said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Out of Morales and Prates, everyone's going to say I'm biased because I lost to Morales. I think Morales will give him a harder time. I was asking for the Carlos Prates fight before, so I've gone back and done the tape study on him, where I've seen guys in ONE FC take him down and beat him on the ground.

"I think Islam will be able to do the same thing, whereas with Morales, we still don't know how good he is. We still don't know how good his ground game is. We don't know how good his cardio is. We don't know all these things, and I think that's going to play a lot more."

With Morales having not competed since last November, Brady (19-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) says it's a unanimous opinion that he needs to fight again before earning a UFC title shot.

"But I do think he needs one more fight," Brady said. "He beat me last November. It's going to be a year, definitely by the time he fights again. I think he needs one more. I would do him and Ian, or I heard Shavkat (Rakhmonov) is supposed to come back by the end of the year or early next year, do him and Shavkat."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean Brady: Michael Morales harder test for Islam Makhachev than Carlos Prates