Carlos Prates showed his bathroom mirror where he wrote daily affirmations about knocking out Jack Della Maddalena. The Brazilian revealed messages on the mirror stating "I will knock out JDM," "I will beat JDM," and "I will become champion." Prates indicated that his mental preparation for the fight began months before their Saturday bout. He emphasized that what happened in the octagon on Saturday was written and visualized long ago. The post suggests Prates used daily positive affirmations as part of his fight preparation strategy.
Carlos Prates gave a revealing glimpse into his pre-fight mindset ahead of his welterweight clash with Jack Della Maddalena, sharing images of his bathroom mirror covered in handwritten affirmations predicting the outcome of their Saturday bout.
The Brazilian fighter, known as "The Nightmare," had written messages including "I will knock out JDM," "I will beat JDM," and "I will become champion" on the mirror, describing the mental work as something he had begun months before fight night. Prates emphasized that what unfolded in the octagon was something he had already written and visualized long before stepping inside it.
Prates, 32, enters the fight ranked fifth in the welterweight division with a record of 24 wins and 7 losses, competing out of Vale Top Team. Standing six-foot-one with a 78-inch reach, he brings notable striking accuracy of 55 percent, landing 3.77 significant strikes per minute.
His opponent, Jack Della Maddalena, sits one spot above him at fourth in the welterweight rankings and holds a pound-for-pound ranking of 13th. The 29-year-old Australian, representing Scrappy MMA, carries an 18-4-0 record and is among the division's most active strikers, landing 5.57 significant strikes per minute at 51 percent accuracy. The switch-stance fighter stands five-foot-eleven with a 73-inch reach.
Why it matters
- Both fighters are ranked inside the welterweight top five, giving the winner a strong case for a title shot
- Prates holds a three-inch reach advantage, which could play into the finishing opportunities he publicly targeted
- The affirmation strategy points to an elaborate psychological preparation that Prates treated as central to his camp, not an afterthought
