Can just three fights in the UFC make someone a star? Well, for Carlos Prates, this is possible. With all the fighters available in the company, Dana White gave ‘The Nightmare’ the main fight this Saturday, and on his shoulders is the responsibility of being up to the task and winning the fight against Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 100.

However, ahead of his much-awaited fight, the Brazilian has gotten himself a new tattoo that surely was made to make him appear more intimidating to his opponents. Carlos Prates got the new inkwork done on his entire back, as he got his moniker, ‘The Nightmare’ written on the top with portraits of four clowns, namely DC’s Joker and IT’s Pennywise, on the rest of his back.

The UFC even posted a picture of the tattoo on their Reddit, which surely caught a lot of attention. However, this isn’t the first time that he has been in the limelight; since the Brazilian has been a major fighter to look for since August 2023, when he caught the public’s attention in Dana White’s Contender Series, he has not stopped his evolution for a single second.

His official debut in the company came earlier this year when he defeated Trevin Giles by knockout in the second round. In this way, he was already beginning to be talked about, to the point that he returned to action in June to face Charles Radtke, whom he also knocked out, although this time he did it in the very first round. Finally, Carlos Prates was called up to fight again in August, and he finished again. This time his victim was Li Jingliang.

So far, the attention to Carlos Prates has truly been positive. In fact, he starts as a wide favorite to knock out Neil Magny and extend his winning streak. But as impressive as ‘The Nightmares’ fighting skills are, it seems like his tattoos failed to impress the very fans who love rooting for him when he’s inside the Octagon. In fact, they even led to some wild conspiracies about the fighter! So what were they? Let’s find out.

Fans troll the Brazilian for tattoo disaster

As soon as the UFC uploaded the photo of Carlos Prates’ tattoos, fans were quick to call out the fighter for his poor choice. Some UFC fighters, such as the late Kid Yamamoto, Dustin Poirier, and Tyson Pedro, are known in the MMA community for having some of the best inkwork that the fans have ever seen. On the contrary, this tattoo by Carlos Prates surely made some fans wonder what could be the reason behind the Brazilian even agreeing to get something like that on his body.

That’s when some wild theories came up about the cultural significance of clown tattoos in Brazil. As per users, the tattoos are made by criminals who’ve killed policemen in their lives, and knowing that Prates is a Brazilian, some fans wrote comments like, “Fun fact: in Brazil a clown tattoo means you killed a cop and got away with it,” and “In Brazil, getting a clown tattoo of any kind means three things: You’re a robber, You’re part of a gang, You’re a cop killer. Usually when police catches people sporting these kinds of tattoos, they get special treatment on the way to the precinct.”

Some more people wondered why he could’ve gotten this tattoo. “Why did Prates get a shitty tattoo? Is he stupid?” A part of the fans were quick to share why his tattoos looked bad. According to them, it was because they looked like they had been made by AI or an amateur design team. As a result, they left comments like, “Bro got an AI art tattoo,” and “It looks like a shitty airbrushed t-shirt from a carnival.”

But while many fighters agree that some UFC fighters truly have amazing art tattooed on their bodies, according to them, Prates has simply joined the list of fighters who have the worst inkwork. One name that truly stood out was Jamahal Hill, as several users claimed that Prate’s tattoos were almost as bad as his. “Welcome to the HILL club.” Other users decided to do the same but not drop any fighters in the process. “UFC fighters and terrible tattoos. Name a more iconic duo.” Well, it surely looks like fans truly hated Prates’ tattoos. But what do you think? Are they really that bad? Let us know in the comments.