Heading into 2024, very few fight fans were familiar with Carlos Prates. That will not be the case heading into 2025.

Prates (21-6) put together what will likely be the final touch to his 2024 campaign on Saturday, by knocking out the veteran Neil Magny (29-13) with a straight left in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. The victory was Prates’ first in a UFC main event and moved him to 4-0 in the Octagon this year, with all four wins coming by knockout. Prates is also likely to crack the top 15 of the UFC welterweight rankings.

“I feel amazing,” Prates said. “This has been the best year of my life, of my career. In 10 months, three bonuses (for fight night). It’s been a lot of hard work on my part and my team.”

The 31-year-old Brazilian, who trains at the growing Fight Nerds camp in Sao Paulo, has asked for his next matchup to be against Australia. Jack Della Maddalena in February in Sydney.

The knockout, which came in the final 10 seconds of the first round, was probably the best so far of Prates’ young UFC career. Magny, 37, got off to a pretty good start as he looked to crash Prates into the fence, take him down and simply wear him down in any way possible. He landed some respectable shots on the feet and held Prates against the fence in the clinch.

However, Prates’ precision and power quickly turned the fight in his favor. He hurt Magny with a very short counter elbow during an exchange and calmly chased him around the octagon as Magny tried to recover. Finally, he landed a straight left to Magny’s temple, resulting in a highlight, a knockout. The blow didn’t even land clean, as it partially grazed Magny’s glove.

Prates earned a contract with the UFC as a contestant on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2023. He has now knocked out his last 10 consecutive opponents.