Carlos Prates returned home after UFC Perth and showed the mirror in his bathroom where he wrote daily affirmations leading up to his fight. The Brazilian wrote messages nearly every morning stating he would knock out Jack Della Maddalena. He emphasized that the fight didn't truly begin on Saturday night, but rather months earlier when he started these daily visualizations. The mirror featured repeated messages declaring "I will knock out JDM," "I will beat JDM," and "I will become champion." Prates' revelation provides insight into his mental preparation before his stunning knockout victory.
Carlos Prates has pulled back the curtain on the mental preparation behind his stunning knockout of Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Perth, sharing footage of his bathroom mirror covered in handwritten affirmations that he revisited nearly every morning in the months before the fight.
The Brazilian welterweight, known as "The Nightmare," wrote repeated declarations on the mirror, including "I will knock out JDM," "I will beat JDM," and "I will become champion." Prates emphasized that the fight did not truly start on fight night but rather months earlier through those daily visualizations.
Prates, 32, carries a 24-7 record and was ranked fifth in the welterweight division heading into the contest. Standing six-foot-one with a 78-inch reach, the Vale Top Team product strikes with 55 percent accuracy — among the sharper marks in the division — and fights out of a switch stance.
Della Maddalena, 29, entered the fight as the fourth-ranked welterweight and 13th in the pound-for-pound standings, bringing an 18-4 record and one of the most prolific striking outputs in the division at 5.57 significant strikes landed per minute. The Australian, who trains out of Scrappy MMA, also fights switch and owns a 73-inch reach.
Why it matters
- Prates rises from fifth to potentially second or third in the welterweight rankings following a win over a top-five opponent.
- Della Maddalena, previously among the division's title contenders, faces a setback in his championship pursuit.
- The victory keeps Prates firmly in the welterweight title conversation and adds a high-profile name to his resume.
- The affirmation routine offers a rare, unfiltered look at the psychological work elite fighters invest outside the gym.
