Della Maddalena, Prates Set For 5-Round Ufc Fight Night In Perth
Jack Della Maddalena will face Carlos Prates in the ufc fight night main event at RAC Arena in Perth on May 2, 2026. The five-round bout puts Perth’s own No. 1-ranked UFC welterweight in front of a home crowd against the No. 5-ranked contender, with title implications hanging over the card.
The event starts at a special time for North American viewers. Prelims begin at 4am ET and 1am PT, then the main event is scheduled for 7am ET and 4am PT on May 2.
Della Maddalena And Prates
Della Maddalena enters as Perth’s former champion and the division’s top-ranked welterweight. Prates arrives as the No. 5-ranked welterweight, and the matchup is set for five rounds while every other bout on the card is scheduled for three.
That creates a different pace at the top of the show. The main event has room to settle into a longer fight, while the rest of the lineup moves on the shorter schedule that usually gives less margin for error.
RAC Arena Start Times
RAC Arena is the site, and the timing is built around a global audience. The prelims at 4am ET and the main card at 7am ET place the show in the early hours in the United States, with the full event streaming on Paramount+.
For viewers, the practical move is simple: the early start means the main event will not wait until a normal Saturday-night window. Anyone planning to follow the card will need to account for the 7am ET main event slot, not a late-night broadcast.
Meerschaert Misses Weight
Gerald Meerschaert weighed in four pounds above the middleweight limit, and he will forfeit 30 percent of his purse to his opponent. That is the only weigh-in issue listed for the card, and it gives the event its lone competitive complication outside the main event.
So the top of the card is set, the start times are fixed, and the weight miss has already cost one fighter part of his purse. The rest now belongs to the cage in Perth, where Della Maddalena and Prates meet in the kind of matchup that can reshape a welterweight run in one morning.
