Tactical preview: Will Maddalena or Prates retreat in center-cage battle?

A detailed fight analysis examines the critical question of who will move backward in the Maddalena vs Prates matchup, as both fighters are built around moving forward. Prates has dropped opponents 11 times in the UFC while advancing and rarely retreats except briefly against Neil. Maddalena similarly is always moving forward and has never been seen backing up except in small moments. If they clash in the center, the analysis suggests Maddalena is at risk since he absorbed over 50 clean head punches from Belal Muhammad, while Prates only needs one clean shot. Maddalena's advantage lies in short-range combination boxing and counter-punching, as Prates struggles at medium-close boxing range. The analysis notes Ian Garry succeeded by being exceptionally skilled at reading and evading Prates' left straight due to extensive sparring with southpaws. The breakdown concludes by picking Maddalena to force Prates backward and potentially finish him by TKO in rounds 3-4, though acknowledges it's partly based on preference rather than pure calculation.