“The Nightmare” wants gold.
No. 5-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Carlos Prates meets former champion Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC Perth main event this weekend (Sat., May 2, 2026) inside RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
For Prates, it’s simple: win, and he believes a title shot is next.
“He’s a really good striker, a dangerous guy and a good boxer,” Prates said during UFC Perth media day. “He’s a former champ — all respect to him, but I think it’s my time. He already knows how it is to hold the belt — he lost, so now it’s going to be my time…Of course, this makes me next for the title. Islam Makhachev and Ian Garry are fighting in August, and I’ll get the winner.”
With a crowded Welterweight title picture, nothing is guaranteed — but Prates believes his resume separates him from the pack.
“After I beat two former champions in a row and no one else did that, I’m going to be next,” he added.
And don’t expect him to leave it in the judges’ hands.
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