UFC Perth, The Morning After: Carlo Prates’ undeniable title shot leads to ‘Nightmare’ matchup

Carlos Prates was f—king incredible last night (May 2, 2026) in his main event destruction of former champion Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Perth.

Prates flew all the way to Della Maddalena’s hometown to teach a Muay Thai masterclass. Though he offered his instruction free of charge, the cost was still high. 29-year-0ld Della Maddalena hasn’t been stopped by strikes in a decade, yet he still wound up in a bloody heap after less than 15 total minutes. The Aussie’s lead leg was kicked to pieces, his liver

smashed by high-velocity round kicks, and his skull repeatedly bludgeoned by an array of left hands, chopping elbows, and precision knees.

Less than a year ago, the same win would have earned him a world title.

Prates battered his fellow knockout artist mercilessly. It took him perhaps two minutes to gain a sense of his foe’s range and power, and then he took over with ease. He strategized perfectly for Della Maddalena’s pressure and high guard, punishing all of the tendencies that have historically made Della Maddalena such an effective striker.

This victory clearly stands as the best performance of Prates’ short UFC career, an eight-fight stretch that features seven brutal knockouts. In the sole exception, Prates’ weaknesses were revealed by Ian Garry, who flustered the Brazilian was constant movement, excellent feints, and the rare gift of matching his height and length. In that bout, Prates spent too much time waiting for the big shot, falling so deep into a hole that even a violent fifth-round rally couldn’t dig him out. Conversely, Prates filled empty space well in this fight. He didn’t just wait for the knockout blow, as Prates was content to touch with his jab or kick at whatever target was easily available. As a result, his accuracy remained high and the damage built even more quickly.

The Brazilian has clearly improved since his sole UFC defeat.

I am loathe to compare any UFC fighter to the great Anderson Silva, but there were moments where Prates achieved the same kind of kickboxing nirvana that is reserved for the likes of a prime “Spider.” There are plenty of differences between the two knockout artists, but Prates’ use of low hand position, willingness to put himself on the fence, the flappy hand movement to discourage his opponent’s offense — those were all Silva staples. In both cases, composure, variety, and severe consequence make for a very dangerous knockout artist!

Prates’ demolition job in Perth puts him on the level of Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria, the absolute top tier of knockout artist in the modern UFC. Unfortunately, the reward for Prates’ level up seems to be an eventual title fight versus Islam Makhachev, who may or may not have to fight Garry first.

It’s hard to imagine a more “Nightmare” matchup for Prates. The Brazilian gets taken down fairly often, but his size and jiu-jitsu black belt make him a difficult man to hold down. As we have repeatedly seen, however, scrambling up from beneath Makhachev is a nearly impossible task. It’s much easier to imagine Prates pinned on the canvas for five excruciating rounds than it is to envision Prates scrambling back to his feet repeatedly while maintaining the venom in his strikes to hurt Makhachev.

It’s a rough situation for both Prates and the UFC. He’s a likable and generationally gifted knockout artist — a promoter’s dream! Prates has a strong chance to flatline just about every name on the list of ranked Welterweight contenders except the current champion. Fans aren’t asking for that matchup even if Prates now deserves it, because most generally want Prates’ exciting path of destruction to continue.

There’s always a chance Garry upsets Islam or the Russian kingpin could return to Lightweight for that long-awaited Ilia Topuria showdown. While Makhachev holds the belt, however, Prates’ path to gold is complicated and hard to sell even after another massive victory.

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For complete UFC Perth results and play-by-play, click here.