Jack Della Maddalena had a lighthearted encounter with the daughter of his upcoming opponent Carlos Prates. The interaction was captured and shared publicly, with Prates playfully telling his daughter that Della Maddalena is a bad guy. Della Maddalena quickly countered by saying he is not a bad guy and is actually a good person. The exchange appears to have been friendly banter ahead of their scheduled bout. No specific date for the fight was mentioned in this brief interaction. The meeting suggests both fighters are in the promotion phase leading up to their welterweight matchup.
A lighthearted pre-fight moment surfaced publicly when welterweight contender Jack Della Maddalena crossed paths with the daughter of his upcoming opponent Carlos Prates. During the encounter, Prates playfully told his daughter that Della Maddalena was a bad guy, prompting the Australian to push back with a grin, insisting he is actually a good person. The friendly exchange offered a brief glimpse of the human side beneath what shapes up to be a serious divisional matchup.
Della Maddalena, 29, enters the bout ranked fourth in the welterweight division and thirteenth in the pound-for-pound standings. The Perth-based Scrappy MMA product carries an 18-4 record and brings an aggressive output game, landing 5.57 significant strikes per minute at 51 percent accuracy. A switch-stance fighter standing five-foot-eleven with a 73-inch reach, he has established himself as one of the more dangerous hands in the 170-pound class.
Prates, nicknamed The Nightmare, sits one spot below at fifth in the division. The 32-year-old Brazilian out of Vale Top Team holds a 24-7 record and owns a notable physical edge, measuring six-foot-one with a 78-inch reach. He connects at 55 percent striking accuracy and posts 3.77 significant strikes per minute in his own switch-stance style.
Why it matters
- Both fighters rank inside the welterweight top five, meaning the winner moves into title contention territory
- Della Maddalena sits at fourth and Prates at fifth, so the bout directly reshuffles the divisional ladder
- The reach advantage Prates holds — roughly five inches over Della Maddalena — makes distance management a key stylistic question
- Both men fight out of a switch stance, setting up a technically intricate striking contest between two high-accuracy, high-output competitors
