Carlos Prates continued his surge up the UFC Welterweight rankings this weekend after a brutal and clinical knockout victory against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Fight Night in the RAC Arena on Saturday.
The fight commenced with Della Maddalena on the front foot while Prates moved around in an attempt to avoid the early pressure. However, Prates began to find a home for both his left and right hand, as well as a couple of powerful leg kicks to the body.
Della Maddalena managed to secure a takedown toward the final seconds of the first round but offered little damage on the ground.
Prates came to life in the second round and bothered his opponent with chopping calf kicks that dropped Della Maddalena to the canvas on a couple of occasions. With the Brazilian in a flow state, Prates bloodied Della Maddalena with strong knee kicks and slashing elbows to the face.
Then, in the third round, Prates dropped Della Maddalena with yet another low kick before landing a series of punches, while he closed the fight with a strong series of punches on the canvas.
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Speaking after the fight, Prates boldly claimed that he now intends on fighting for the title, namely against UFC Pound for Pound leader Islam Makhachev.
“It’s just business,” Prates said. “Who is it next? I want to fight Islam Makhachev next.
“I come for war. I train so much. I make everybody travel so far, so I couldn’t come here and just lose.
“Brazil never had a champion in the welterweight division. I will be the first.”
Featured elsewhere, Louie Sutherland defeated Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision to kick off proceedings on Main-card, with the latter being dominated across all three rounds.
The popular Tuivasa had no answer to Sutherland’s relentless grappling throughout the fight and eventually ran out of time to land a customary knockout blow.
Also, Marwan Rahiki continued his rise in the Featherweight division following an efficient first round knockout win over Ollie Schmid. Displaying incredible speed and accuracy, the Moroccan’s surgical like performance was personified by a powerful counter left uppercut that dropped his opponent before seeing out the fight with strikes on the ground.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MAIN CARD RESULTS
Carlos Prates defeated Jack Della Maddalena by TKO (strikes) at 3:17 of Round 3
Quillan Salkilld defeated Beneil Dariush by TKO (strikes) at 3:29 of Round 1
Steve Erceg defeated Tim Elliott by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marwan Rahiki defeated Ollie Schmid by TKO (strikes) at 2:47 of Round 1
Brando Peričić defeated Shamil Gaziev by KO (strikes) at 3:44 of Round 2
Louie Sutherland defeated Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)