Colby Covington: Carlos Prates easiest fight of Islam Makhachevs career

Colby Covington believes UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev is a bad matchup for Carlos Prates.

Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) is expected to defend his belt against Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who's coming off a dominant finish of ex-champ Jack Della Maddalena in May. While Prates' precise striking and power has proven to be a problem, Covington said the hole in his grappling will be easily exposed by Makhachev.

"Nah, no chance, bro," Covington said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Carlos has nothing for him. He's just a straight striker. That's going to be the easiest fight of Makhachev's career. He's going to take him down and submit him. I think he takes him down and submits him with like a kimura or a head-and-arm choke."

When asked about undefeated top contender Michael Morales (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), Covington wasn't as sure.

"Michael Morales, we've got to see how his takedown defense is," Covington continued. "We haven't seen him in any big fights, in high-level five-round fights. So, we don't know what to expect from him. We know Carlos can go five rounds. He does get a little tired. It kind of attributes to having a terrible habit, smoking cigarettes. He needs to quit that if he ever wants to be a legitimate champion. But I don't know with Morales. I think he's still unproven, and there's still a lot to be seen with that guy."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Colby Covington: Carlos Prates 'easiest fight' of Islam Makhachev's career