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The UFC welterweight division has a problem on its hand and its name is Carlos "The Nightmare" Prates.
The Brazilian slugger finished his second straight former champion on Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Perth, Australia, when he systematically broke down Jack Della Maddalena in his hometown en route to a third-round TKO that was as thorough as it was violent.
Prates (24-7), who improved to 7-1 with seven knockouts since his 2024 UFC debut, called for a title shot next and said he expects to face the winner of a rumored August title bout between 170-pound king Islam Makhachev and Ian Machado Garry, who is the only fighter to defeat Prates inside the Octagon.
"I'm not here to play. I respect Jack, he's a great champion but it's just business. It's part of the game," Prates said. "I need to ask something, who is the next? In August, I will be first in line watching Makhachev and Garry and I want to fight the winner.
"Brazil never had a champion in the welterweight division and I will be the first."
Della Maddalena (18-4), who lost the welterweight title last November in his first defense by being dominantly outwrestled against Makhachev, suffered his second straight defeat following an 18-fight win streak that took him to the top of the division. The native of Perth gave up two inches in height and five inches in reach to Prates and was never in the fight outside of a few hard counter shots while in distress.
"Jack is a good boxer but I believed that I am a better striker," Prates said. "I can punch, I can knee, I can kick. I am the better fighter."
Ironically, it was the 29-year-old Della Maddalena who took Prates down early and tried to control the bout with his wrestling only to see Prates pop up quickly each time before eventually stuffing the remaining takedown attempts. From there, Prates began to pick Della Maddalena apart in surgical fashion with hard kicks to the calves and body, along with jumping knees and a variety of punches.
Everything Prates landed appeared to be heavy as he stood in front of his opponent with his hands down, just daring Della Maddalena to come out behind his high defensive guard. By the end of Round 2, Prates had Della Maddalena visibly hurt due to vicious step-in elbows and a series of knees before he dropped the former champion late in the round with a hard calf kick.
All of the patience shown by Prates went away in Round 3 once he was convinced how close Della Maddalena was to being finish. A step-in elbow caused a cut above the eye of Della Maddalena, which forced UFC broadcaster Michael Bisping to declare, "It's getting hard to watch."
Prates, 32, landed a stiff kick around the high guard of Della Maddalena to briefly drop him. A series of huge elbows dropped him again before a high knee from Prates sat his opponent down for good. Prates swarmed in with some vicious ground and pound before referee Mike Beltran stopped the fight at 3:17 of Round 3.
The post-fight celebration for Prates was an emotional one considering his 73-year-old mother traveled from Brazil to see the show, where she was introduced to Prates' six-year-old daughter, who lives in Australia, for the first time.
"I come for war and I train so much," Prates said. "I made everybody travel so far so I couldn't let them down. I couldn't let them go home sad. I'm here with like 30 people."
UFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs. Prates card, results
- Carlos Prates def. Jack Della Maddalena via third-round TKO (punches)
- Quillan Salkilld def. Beneil Dariush via first-round TKO (punches)
- Steve Erceg def. Tim Elliott via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marwan Rahiki def. Ollie Schmid via first-round TKO (punches)
- Brando Pericic def. Shamil Gaziev via second-round TKO (punches)
- Louie Sutherland def. Tai Tuivasa via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
