Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates completed their first official face-off before their upcoming bout at UFC Perth. The staredown marks the final pre-fight promotional duties for both welterweight contenders. UFC released photos from the event. No additional details about the fight or event were provided in the post. Fans are being asked to vote for their pick in the matchup.
Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates stood across from each other at their first official face-off ahead of their welterweight showdown at UFC Perth, with the UFC releasing photos from the staredown as both fighters completed their final pre-fight promotional duties.
Della Maddalena enters the bout as the hometown favorite, a 29-year-old Australian fighting out of Scrappy MMA who holds an 18-4 record and sits fourth in the welterweight rankings, also checking in at 13th in the pound-for-pound standings. Fighting out of a switch stance at five-foot-eleven with a 73-inch reach, he is one of the division's most active offensive threats, landing 5.57 significant strikes per minute at 51 percent accuracy.
Prates, nicknamed "The Nightmare," brings a 24-7 record and the fifth-ranked welterweight position into the cage. The 32-year-old Brazilian, who trains with Vale Top Team, stands six-foot-one with a notably longer 78-inch reach — a five-inch advantage over Della Maddalena. He posts a 55 percent striking accuracy rate, connecting at 3.77 significant strikes per minute. Like his opponent, Prates is a switch-stance fighter, and he has recorded no submission attempts across his UFC appearances.
Why it matters
- A win for Della Maddalena, fighting in front of a home crowd in Perth, could push him into title contention from the fourth spot in the division.
- Prates, ranked directly behind him at fifth, would leapfrog Della Maddalena and strengthen his own title case with a victory.
- Both fighters are switch-stance strikers, setting up a technically complex stand-up exchange, though their output and reach profiles differ significantly.
- The reach gap of five inches in Prates's favor could be a decisive factor in the striking battle between two welterweights who rarely look for takedowns or submissions.
