Jack Della Maddalena could be back in the Octagon this spring. | Getty/UFC
With Islam Makhachev’s win over Jack Della Maddalena and capturing UFC welterweight gold, the possibilities of a matchup at the top of the division have expanded.Depending on who is chosen next to challenge Makhachev for the title, virtually any combination in the division’s top six would make sense. In an interview with Sherdog.com shortly after his win over Leon Edwards at UFC 322, the same night Makhachev took the title from Madalena and Michael Morales defeated Sean Brady, Carlos Prates revealed that he believed the UFC would put him next against Maddalena.
Ben Vickers, Maddalena’s coach, recently stated that negotiations are already underway to have his athlete return to the Octagon, possibly against the Fighting Nerds product between April and May.”We’re probably looking at the time from April to May to get Jack back,” Vickers said Submission radio. “…Prates is one of the names being thrown around, there are other names being thrown around too. Nothing has been signed yet, but talks are underway… It would be nice to have a striker.”
On social media, Prates reinforced his interest in the fight. Via Instagram Stories, Prates shared the news and captioned the post only with handshake, location and question mark emojis – suggesting that the deal is close and only the location of the match remains to be defined.
Potential Southpaw vs. Southpaw
In that exclusive interview with Sherdog last November, Prates explained why he believed the UFC would put him against the Australian.”I strongly believe Usman will put up a champion-versus-champion challenge against Islam for the title; Ian Garry and Morales don’t like each other, so it makes sense they’ll fight next,” he said. “In my case, I just defeated a former champion, (and) Madalena is now a former champion as well.
“Southpaw vs. lefty, two strikers, there’s no way this fight is going to end in a knockout.”
When asked about the best way to beat the former champion, Prates didn’t hesitate.
“By using low kicks and disrupting his movements, I believe I can do that
[earn] another knockout,” he said.
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