Jack Della Maddalena is back after getting dominated badly by Islam Makhachev in his last fight, and he’s not getting an easy return opponent in Carlos Prates.
UFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs. Prates goes down on May 2nd from Perth, Australia and those of us in North America are going to have to adjust our schedules to catch it. With the prelims starting at 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT and the main card at 7 a.m. ET / 4 a.m. PT, those of us who value their sleep may regain consciousness just in time
for the main event. And what a main event it is, with Jack Della getting his first hometown fight since 2023.
“JDM” isn’t taking Prates lightly, as some do on account of his well-known smoking and partying habits.
“He’s dangerous,” Della Maddalena told UFC on Paramount’s Shakiel Mahjouri. “And when he gets into that flow state, he’s extremely dangerous. So I definitely feel like he’s improving. I feel like that loss against Ian [Machado Garry] was super close, but he still sort of turned it on towards the end. And if that fight had an extra minute, he could have got the victory. So I still think he’s one of the best guys in the the division for sure.”
To some fans, you’re only as good as your last performance. And to be blunt, Della Maddalena’s last fight was pretty atrocious. Everyone was expecting Islam Makhachev to have success with his wrestling and grappling, but the level to which Makhachev dominated in those spheres was astronomical. Della Maddalena could do nothing but attempt to survive for five long rounds, losing the UFC welterweight belt with barely a punch landed.
“I think it was from the get go, I think just getting stuck, not having the footwork,” Jack said of the defeat. “And yeah, there were opportunities on the back when I was on the ground where I think I was just thinking too defensive, not getting subbed, that sort of thing, when really I should have been attacking and trying to create opportunities to scramble and get back to the feet.”
“So it’s just small decision making and just being stuck too much in a real defensive mindset when it came to the grappling, which ultimately cost me rounds, which ultimately then cost me the fight and the belt.”
Della Maddalena looked miserable under Makhachev during the fight and miserable afterwards. According to the Australian, he carried that mood for a minute before getting back to work.
“Yeah, it took a couple of days, it stung for a few days,” he said. “It stung, but that’s life. Going to these tough fights knowing very well that you’re either gonna win or you lose, and life goes on. So took a few days, then back to the drawing board, figuring out what we did wrong, and yeah, just trying to improve on those things.”
Della Maddalena has said he wants nothing more than a rematch against Makhachev. That’s a pretty wild request given the outcome of their last fight, but the Australian is confident that he can convince people with his cage work this Saturday in Perth.
“I’m gonna leave it all to next Saturday,” he said simply. “The performance will do the talking, and I’m excited to perform for the people.”
