Jack Della Maddalena is back after getting dominated badly by Islam Makhachev in his last fight, and he\u2019s not getting an easy return opponent in Carlos Prates.<\/p>\n
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.<\/a> And what a main event it is, with Jack Della getting his first hometown fight since 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cJDM\u201d isn\u2019t taking Prates lightly, as some do on account of his well-known smoking<\/a> and partying<\/a> habits.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s dangerous,\u201d Della Maddalena told UFC on Paramount\u2019s Shakiel Mahjouri. \u201cAnd when he gets into that flow state, he\u2019s extremely dangerous. So I definitely feel like he\u2019s 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\u2019s one of the best guys in the the division for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n To some fans, you\u2019re only as good as your last performance. And to be blunt, Della Maddalena\u2019s 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.<\/a> Della Maddalena could do nothing but attempt to survive for five long rounds, losing the UFC welterweight belt with barely a punch landed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was from the get go, I think just getting stuck, not having the footwork,\u201d Jack said of the defeat. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n