Carlos Prates Targets Knockout Win at RAC Arena — Ufc Schedule

Carlos Prates enters the ufc schedule with one goal for Saturday night: knock out Jack Della Maddalena and turn that win into a title shot. The UFC welterweight said the fight in Perth could be the one that separates him from the rest of the contenders.

Prates Sets the Goal

“[He] have good skills, good boxing, but Saturday night, it's going to be a long night for him. I will knock him out and get my title shot.”

That was Prates’ own read on the main event at RAC Arena in Western Australia, where he is scheduled to face the Perth native. He did not frame the night as a feeling-out round or a points chase. He tied the outcome to one thing only: a finish that carries him toward the belt.

Prates has built that case with his UFC run. Since earning his contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2023, he has produced six Performance Bonus-earning knockouts, and his only Octagon loss came in a decision to Ian Machado Garry.

Knockouts Built the Case

The Garry fight still sits at the center of the story because Prates nearly stopped him in the fifth round before dropping the decision. He answered that loss with a spinning elbow knockout of Geoff Neal, then followed three months later with a straight left that finished Leon Edwards in New York City.

Those results leave a simple test in Perth. Prates has already shown he can recover from the lone loss on his UFC ledger, and he has done it with finishes that arrived in different ways. His own description of the matchup leaves no room for a cautious night. “I think my game plan is not [a] surprise to anyone,” he said.

Della Maddalena Meets Pressure

Della Maddalena brings the home setting to RAC Arena, but the stakes go beyond a crowd favorite fighting in Perth. Prates said, “I respect him,” then added, “I am planning to do the same with Jack, and I'm really excited to do this.”

That creates the friction in the matchup. Della Maddalena has been around long enough to meet elite opposition, including Islam Makhachev at UFC 322, while Prates is trying to use Saturday as a launch point for a title shot. For him, the route is direct: hurt, break, and finish.

“I'll just hurt my opponents, make them give up [in their mind] and then knock them out,” he said. “The next fight [is] going to be the same.” If he lands another stoppage, the title conversation around him gets louder in one night than it did across the rest of his UFC run.