UFC Perth went down last Saturday (May 2, 2026) inside RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Tai Tuivasa, who suffered his seventh straight defeat after coming up short against Louie Sutherland.
And Beneil Dariush, who suffered his second straight loss — four of five overall — after getting knocked out by Quillan Salkilld late in the opening frame (see it again here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover,
now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into his headlining fight against Carlos Prates, “JDM” was looking to erase the memory of losing his last bout in a one-sided beatdown to Islam Makhachev at UFC 322 back in Nov. 2025, which cost him his UFC Welterweight title. That loss was the first of his UFC career after racking up eight straight wins straight out of Contender Series. It also snapped his overall win streak of 18 straight. A win would put him right back into the championship picture since he is still currently the No. 1-ranked fighter in the division.
Unfortunately for Maddalena, things went from bad to worse once the dust settled in his hometown of Perth.
After a fairly even first round, Prates started to find his groove and connect one big shot after another. When he wasn’t landing big punches, he was crushing “JDM” with vicious knees to the body. Busted up and bloodied, Maddalena took several trips to the canvas, only to get invited back up by Prates.
Once there, Maddalena was on the receiving end of a brutal onslaught, ultimately dropping him one final time in the third round. From there, Prates pounced and unleashed a vicious ground-and-pound attack that forced the referee to step in and put an end to the fight.
With two straight losses on his resume now, Maddalena will lose his No. 1 ranking, but will likely still remain the the Top 5. All that means is that his road back to a title fight will be a little tougher (and longer). The division is only getting more and more competitive as time goes on, so the Aussie is going to have to go back to the lab to correct his issues if he wants to remain at the top.
As far as what could be next for him, perhaps a fight against the loser of the upcoming bout between Leon Edwards vs. Daniel Rodriguez is in order. Like Maddalena, Edwards has seen better days, losing three straight including his most recent knockout defeat at the hands of Prates. As for Rodriguez, he is seeded No. 14 at the moment with three straight wins; however, a loss to Edwards would justify a fight against Maddalena.
Then again, another fight that could make sense is one against Ian Machado Garry, assuming he comes up short against Islam Makhchev in their proposed title fight (details here).
