Do you remember what Mother Gothel sang to Rapunzel in Tangled? “Mother knows best,” and yes, she really does. Mothers might scold us and complain, but deep down, they just want what’s best. Even world-famous fighters and athletes, tough as they may seem, bow down to their mother’s advice. Take Rashad Evans, for example. The man was a former 205lbs kingpin and had seen it all inside the Octagon. But back in 2010, his mother, Shirley Ann Evans, told Cagewriter that she gave him advice about Lyoto Machida—advice he laughed off. What happened? He lost!

“The last fight with Machida, the one he lost? I had warned him. I said, ‘Rashad, Machida feels that if he has your mind, he can win the fight.’ Rashad thought that was so funny. And I said he feels like he can conquer your spirit, and Rashad thought that was funny. I said it’s a mental fight, and he thought I was so funny, and then he lost. And I look up, and he’s telling someone on national TV, my mother warned me about the fight,” Shirley said.

After that, when it came time to fight Quinton Jackson, Evans took every word his mother said like the Bible—and walked away with the win. “I told him, Rashad, [Jackson’s] coming to knock you the hell out. He’s not playing with you. Look for every opportunity you can to give that to him. He wasn’t laughing this time!”

Recently, we saw a similar moment between Carlos Prates and his mother. She gave him some heartfelt advice ahead of his upcoming bout against Ian Garry at UFC Kansas City. The Brazilian knows what hardship looks like—he’s seen its darkest corners. He lost his father at a young age, and it was his mother, a hardworking schoolteacher, who raised him by herself. With her away at work, a young Prates fell into bad habits, including chain smoking in the streets of Brazil with his friends. But his mother wasn’t blind to it. She stepped in and made him take Muay Thai classes at 15.

That moment marked the beginning of his journey to the UFC. Now, the 21-6-0 170-pounder is riding a four-fight winning streak in the promotion. And in his next big test against Garry, it’s his mother who’s there with words that hit harder than a knockout. During the latest episode of UFC Journey Part 1, Prates was seen sitting at home in the kitchen with his mother. With calm but commanding energy, she told him, “Don’t give the opponent a chance to play too much. Do you understand? And finish the war quickly. The way mommy likes it, with a perfect finishing touch.”

As he quietly munched on toast and sipped cola, Prates spoke with rare vulnerability. He credited his mother for turning his life around, saying, “I think my mom is my biggest fan. If my mom didn’t find Muay Thai, I probably would be in prison. I would be dead or something like that.”

Now, with his mother’s unwavering support and the Fighting Nerds squad in his corner, the Brazilian UFC star is gearing up for his biggest challenge yet: a showdown with Ian Garry. The question now is—what’s his strategy to take down the surging Irish contender?

Carlos Prates sends a scathing warning to Ian Garry

Ian Garry entered UFC 310 with a clean 15-fight undefeated record, but that momentum was halted last December when he suffered his first loss against the equally unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov. Now, he’s looking to bounce back—and he’s Carlos Prates. The Brazilian is still surging with an undefeated UFC streak and is quickly establishing himself as one of the most dangerous finishers in the welterweight division.

The verbal jabs have already started. Garry recently called out Prates, accusing him of being a “quitter” by posting a clip from one of Prates’ past fights where he appeared to give up mid-fight. “Here look at this, this is a video of Carlos Prates and his true fighting spirit, it’s called being a quitter,” Garry wrote.

But Prates wasn’t fazed. Speaking to The Mac Life, the Brazilian responded to the accusations: “Let’s see after the fight. I guarantee you he’ll be thanking me. Deep in there, he knows I picked this fight. I gave him the main event. He’s been in the UFC for four years, if I’m not mistaken, and never headlined a card. He only won one bonus, poor guy.”

He added, “And now he has the opportunity to be the main event, an opportunity to make more money. First, because he took this fight on short notice only because they offered him a lot of money. And second, he’s the main event. After this fight, even though he’ll get a beating, he’ll thank me for the opportunity I gave him to make good money.”

The pre-fight tension is already spilling over, with even mothers jumping into the fray with fight advice—this one’s personal. What do you think will happen on April 26? Will Garry silence the critics, or will Prates extend his finishing streak in style?