Carlos Prates showed the mirror in his bathroom where he had been writing affirmations for months leading up to his fight with Jack Della Maddalena. The Brazilian fighter regularly wrote messages such as "I will knock out JDM," "I will beat JDM," and "I will become champion" on the mirror almost every morning. Prates suggested that his Saturday night knockout victory over Della Maddalena was the result of months of mental preparation and visualization, not just fight week efforts. The post highlights Prates' dedication to mental conditioning and self-belief as part of his fight preparation.
Long before fight week arrived, Carlos Prates was already winning the battle against Jack Della Maddalena — one handwritten message at a time. The Brazilian welterweight has shared footage of a bathroom mirror he used as a daily affirmation board in the months leading up to their bout, revealing phrases like "I will knock out JDM," "I will beat JDM," and "I will become champion" scrawled across it almost every morning. Prates credited the Saturday night knockout victory over Della Maddalena to that extended period of mental conditioning and visualization, framing the result as the product of months of self-belief rather than a sudden surge of fight-week focus.
Prates, nicknamed "The Nightmare," carries a 24-7 record and competes out of Vale Top Team. The 32-year-old Brazilian stands six-foot-one with a 78-inch reach and held the number-five welterweight ranking heading into the contest. He strikes at a rate of 3.77 significant strikes per minute and connects on 55 percent of his attempts, a accuracy figure that reflects a disciplined, measured approach to offense.
Della Maddalena entered the fight ranked fourth in the welterweight division and thirteenth in the pound-for-pound standings, making him one of the most prominent opponents of Prates' career. The 29-year-old Australian out of Scrappy MMA holds an 18-4 record and is one of the division's most prolific strikers, landing 5.57 significant strikes per minute at 51 percent accuracy. At five-foot-eleven with a 73-inch reach, he gave up a meaningful size advantage to Prates on the night.
Why it matters
- Prates' win over a top-five, top-15 pound-for-pound fighter repositions him as a genuine welterweight title contender
- The reach and height edge Prates held — five inches in reach over Della Maddalena — proved a potentially decisive physical factor
- The story underscores the growing emphasis on mental preparation as a structured, long-term component of elite fight camps
