Sean Strickland recounted telling Francis Ngannou that he would find the reason Strickland carries a gun by looking in the mirror. Carlos Prates and Jack Della Maddalena held their first face-off, with Prates appearing very large for the welterweight division. Shamil Gaziev weighed approximately 140kg just yesterday for his heavyweight bout at UFC Perth in Australia, where recovery time is half of normal due to time zones. Arman Tsarukyan revealed the UFC recently sent him an unexpected $42,000 bonus, possibly for his social media work, though he wasn't told the specific reason.
Several storylines are converging around UFC Perth, with fighters and personalities generating headlines in the lead-up to the Australian event on April 29, 2026.
Sean Strickland, the 35-year-old middleweight champion from the United States, offered a characteristically blunt remark when recounting a conversation with Francis Ngannou about why he carries a firearm. Strickland reportedly told Ngannou the answer could be found by looking in the mirror. The 31-7 champion trains out of Xtreme Couture and is one of the most active strikers in the division, averaging 6.04 significant strikes per minute with a 76-inch reach.
Heavyweight contender Shamil Gaziev drew attention after it emerged he weighed approximately 140 kilograms just one day before his bout at UFC Perth. The 36-year-old from Bahrain, ranked eleventh at heavyweight, stands six-foot-four with a 78-inch reach and carries a 14-3 record. The compressed weight situation is complicated further by the time zone difference in Australia, which reportedly cuts normal recovery time roughly in half.
At the welterweight face-off, Carlos Prates and Jack Della Maddalena squared off for the first time, with Prates drawing notice for his considerable physical presence at 170 pounds. Della Maddalena, the 29-year-old Australian ranked fourth in the division and thirteenth pound-for-pound, carries an 18-4 record and lands significant strikes at a 51 percent accuracy rate, among the sharper figures in the welterweight class.
Separately, lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan disclosed that the UFC sent him an unexpected forty-two-thousand-dollar bonus, though he was given no specific explanation for the payment. Speculation has pointed toward social media contributions as a possible reason.
Why it matters
- Gaziev's extreme weight at 140 kg one day out raises questions about his condition heading into a heavyweight contest with compressed recovery time
- Della Maddalena's face-off with a physically imposing Prates signals a stylistically intriguing welterweight matchup with top-five ranking stakes for the Australian
- Tsarukyan's unexplained bonus highlights the growing value the UFC places on fighter-driven promotion outside the cage
