MMA veteran Chael Sonnen has recently spoken about the rising UFC star and one of the Fighting Nerds very own Carlos Prates, who not only delivers vicious knockouts against his opponents but also has quite the smoking habits that would any person. Whether an athlete or not, to raise an eyebrow at his habits. Chael Sonnen would say the following in his video:
“Carlos Prates, smoking cigarettes four at a time!—a pack a day. Did you hear when I said ‘four at a time’? Because four at a time can create a little bit of a vision within your mind.”
“I don’t want kids to see that and think it’s okay to smoke and still believe they can be a world-class athlete.”
“If I find out Carlos Prates is truly a chronic smoker, I’ll be the hall monitor who wants to get to him and encourage him to get help.
Sonnen has been an athlete for a lifetime and has trained to compete at the highest level of athletics since he was a teenager, so one can understand why he cringes at these habits.
Chael Sonnen’s disapproval of Carlos Prates is nothing new in MMA.
Fans and fighters of the past have been critical of the new generations for one reason or another; it’s a feature of the human condition as a whole. However, this could be a cultural split, as Sonnen comes from a classic American culture of hard and consistent work to get to the top of combat sports. This is in contrast to Carlos Prates, who has competed professionally in Muay Thai in the past and has even faced off against Dave Leduc. Comes from a culture of consistent fighting with more lax training standards. This may make our Western martial artists cringe, but for many Muay Thai legends, this type of lifestyle worked, surprisingly.
Will the rising MMA star’s lifestyle eventually return to haunt him in the future? It’s mostly likely, but as for now, the man has made quite a name for himself as a chronic smoker.
