Michel Prazeres will meet Zak Cummings at welterweight in May, but is certain it’ll be a one-time thing.
After three weight-cutting mishaps where he could not make the lightweight limit, UFC fighter Michel Prazeres was forced to move up a weight class much like other multiple-time offenders, such as Charles Oliveira and Johny Hendricks. After showing up at 161 pounds when he faced Desmond Green in his last outing, on February 3, the UFC had enough.
Now scheduled to take on Zak Cummings at UFC Chile in a welterweight bout, Michel told Ag Fight he’ll be right back at lightweight following the bout and feels confident the size difference won’t play much of a factor, even though Cummings used to compete at middleweight.
“I already wanted to have a fight at 170 and I got it. Hopefully I’ll pick up another win and then I’ll be right back at my original division, which is 155. They gave me that chance. They asked me to have this fight and then go back. It’s a good fight because I usually walk around at 205. I’ll be healthy and strong. Let’s see who’ll have the better gameplan. I’m used to training with guys who are bigger than me.”
Michel Prazeres (24-2) hasn’t fought at welterweight since his UFC debut in 2013 when he dropped an unanimous decision Paulo Thiago. Now, the Brazilian rides a six-fight win streak at 155, with wins over the likes of Josh Burkman, Gilbert Burns and Desmond Green.
UFC Chile is scheduled for May 19 in the country’s capital of Santiago. The card will be headlined by a welterweight bout between contenders Santiago Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman.