UFC Fight Night: Maddalena vs. Prates Predictions

UFC Fight Night 275: Maddalena vs. Prates takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates Prediction

Jack Della Maddalena’s eight-fight winning streak came to an end in his first welterweight title defense last time out and now he looks to get back on track against Carlos Prates, who is coming off back-to-back KO wins last year.

The 29-year-old Maddalena was completely shut down by Islam Makhachev in their title clash, with the sport’s No.1 pound-for-pound fighter dominating him on the mat for much of the five rounds to seize the belt. That wasn’t really a surprise though as while Maddalena isn’t a fish-out-of-water on the mat and does have a submission win in the UFC, he has always been a striker first-and-foremost. As such his upcoming match-up suits him a lot better stylistically. JDM has very good boxing, and while he’s not necessarily the hardest hitter around, his ability to piece together blistering combinations of accurate punches to the head and body at close quarters saw him rip through his first few opponents in the Octagon. Fighters soon learned it’s wise not to just get into the phone-booth and slug it out with him, but he’s shown he can still find success with a more patient, measured approach, and he has the cardio to go five rounds.

The 32-year-old Prates is also primarily a striker, even having an extensive schedule in muay thai and kickboxing alongside his regional fights in MMA for a number of years. Prates had an impressive knack for ending fights prior to joining the UFC, and he’s been able to replicate that in the Octagon as all six of his wins to date have been by KO. He’s demonstrated ferocious finishing ability with all eight limbs, aided by a big wingspan that’ll give him an extra 5″ in reach and 2″ height advantage here. However, though Prates also has three submission wins, those were early in his career, and given that he’s also been submitted three times himself, he tends to utilizes solid takedown defense to keep the action upright.

This has the making of a competitive stand-up battle, with Maddalena being more active, defensively sound and methodical with his boxing, while Prates has the power and reach advantage, as well as the more dynamic striking arsenal. I think JDM’s volume may give him the edge early in the fight, but he’s going to be playing with fire looking to close the distance against Prates to land his punches, and I think the Brazilian eventually catches him with a power strike to set up a 3rd round TKO victory.

Carlos Prates to win by TKO in Rd3

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Beneil Dariush vs. Quillan Salkilld Prediction

Beneil Dariush has lost three of his last four fights and now goes up against Qullan Salkilld, who is on a four-fight winning streak since joining the UFC last year.

It’s not just the fact that the 36-year-old Dariush is losing fights that sets alarm bells ringing heading into this fight, but more specifically the manner in which he’s being defeated. Charles Oliveira managed to TKO him in the first round in 2023, while Arman Tsarukyan put him away in 64 seconds via KO later that year. Dariush then took well over a year out to recover after it emerged he’d also suffered a knockout and knockdowns in training as well. Dariush returned with a win last year, but most recently was KO’d by Benoit Saint Denis in just 16 seconds last November. So the signs don’t look good at all for Dariush and that’s very unfortunate as there’s no doubting he is a very good fighter. That’s particularly true of his grappling as he shows an impressive level of skill, composure and control on the mat, and he has good wrestling too. His striking is well-versed too though, with surprising power in his hands and solid kicks too, but his failing chin makes extended striking exchanges a big risk.

The 26-year-old Salkilld made an immediate impact upon arriving from the Contender Series last year, racking up three wins in that calendar year, including 1st round TKO and KO victories to claim both ‘Debut Of The Year’ and ‘Rookie Of The Year’ awards. He’s carried that form into 2026 so far with a 1st round submission win over Jamie Mullarkey in January to earn this big step up in competition. He’s an athletic, well-rounded fighter whose power is really starting to shine through during his time in the UFC to go alongside his already good accuracy, and he mixes his punches with kicks nicely. Salkilld is confident with his wrestling too and has several submission wins on his record as well.

Dariush is a high-level grappler, so if he can quickly get this fight to the mat he might have a chance. That being said, I think his chin has completely gone, and unfortunately for him Salkilld has the precision and power to find it quickly, and so I expect him to deliver a 1st round KO finish here.

Quillan Salkilld to win by TKO in Rd1

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Tim Elliott vs. Steve Erceg Prediction

Tim Elliott has won his last two fights by submission and now fights Steve Erceg, who put an end to a three-fight losing slump with a decision win last summer.

Elliott is a true veteran of the flyweight division at 39-years-old and has actually enjoyed his best run of form in the UFC in recent years. He’s won four of his last five fights, including stopping former title contender Kai Asakura last time out. Elliott is unorthodox on the feet and lacks both finesse and power, but his awkward rhythm and tendency to throw strikes from unexpected angles can throw some opponents off their game. He’s clearly at his best on the mat though with his gritty wrestling and grappling, and he relishes the chaos of repeated scrambles and submission attempts to wear his opponents down. That being said, while he does have 8 submission wins, he’s also been submitted 6 times too.

Erceg made a quicker impact than expected when he first arrived in the UFC, stringing together three wins in a row to find himself fast-tracked to a title shot. Perhaps that all came about too quickly though as he went on to lose his next three fights against some of the 125lb division’s best fighters. He’s since taken a step back in competition and returned to winning ways though to help rebuild some confidence. The 30-year-old Erceg is a calm, composed and disciplined fighter with a competent all-round skill-set. He has solid boxing fundamentals, delivering punches with good accuracy and timing, while also nicely mixing in the occasional elbow strike or kick. He has decent wrestling, and his grappling was actually the stand-out aspect of his game when he first arrived in the Octagon, with six of his nine wins on the regional scene coming via submission.

Erceg is quite cool, calm and collected in his fights and I think that’ll serve him well against Elliott’s scrappier style. I can see him timing the cleaner strikes on the feet here and not getting drawn into too many frenetic scrambling situations on the mat on his way to securing a decision win.

Steve Erceg to win by decision

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Shamil Gaziev vs. Brando Pericic Prediction

Shamil Gaziev suffered a KO loss last time out and now looks to bounce back against Brando Pericic, who has gone 2-0 so far in the heavyweight division.

The 36-year-old Gaziev joined the UFC in 2024 with a perfect 11-0 record, but he’s not had it all his own way since then, going 3-2. Notably his two losses have come when he’s taken a step up in competition, with Jairzinho Rozenstruik having finished him by TKO, while last time out Waldo Cortes-Acosta KO’d him in 82 seconds. Gaziev is a stocky all-rounder who lacks athleticism, but has heavy hands that have delivered 9 finishes to date. He can also implement clinch-work, a few takedowns and solid ground-and-pound, while he does have three submission wins on his record too. His UFC results suggest that his durability is now a concern at this level though, and his cardio is suspect.

The 31-year-old Pericic is the less experienced of the two here, being just 6-1 in his career overall, and this will be his most notable fight to date. Pericic is a solid kickboxer with a versatile striking arsenal and has managed to finish all of his wins so far in the 1st round, including running through his first two UFC opponents in under two minutes each. He’s a better athlete than Gaziev and is a faster starter, but he’s not the most well-rounded fighter and his only loss so far was by submission.

Gaziev has the better ground-game and would be wise to utilize it early here, but Pericic will be quick out the blocks with his faster, hard-hitting striking, and I think he’ll be the one to emerge with a first round TKO finish.

Brando Pericic to win by TKO in Rd1

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Tai Tuivasa vs. Louie Sutherland Prediction

Tai Tuivasa knows he could be at the last-chance saloon this weekend after losing his last six fights in a row. To turn things around he’ll have to get the better of Louie Sutherland, who steps in on a week’s notice after suffering two losses in the Octagon so far.

Tai Tuivasa comes from a kickboxing background, but is all too often willing to just slug it out in the Octagon and see who falls over first. There’s been times when that’s worked out well for him, with a five-fight run of KO and TKO victories a few years ago providing a good showcase of his crowd-pleasing punching power, but that was sandwiched in-between lengthy losing slumps. He’s not all that old for a heavyweight at 33, but it remains to be seen if he really has the desire to turn things around as there’s not really been much signs of progression in his striking or conditioning over the years, and he still has no real wrestling or grappling game to speak of either.

The 32-year-old Sutherland needs to prove he belongs in the UFC after losing both of his UFC fights so far inside two minutes each by submission and TKO respectively. Sutherland doesn’t necessarily have the same kind of one-punch knockout power as Tuivasa, but he’s still delivered 8 finishes by strikes in his career so far. He’s a rough and ready striker who will put everything into his punches, mix in some kicks and the occasional knee or elbow strike too. While he’s not a good wrestler, he is willing to try to get his opponent down at times, and he does have hard-hitting ground-and-pound.

Both fighters have a punchers chance here, and so it could go either way. Tuivasa has the more concussive power though, and given that his defeats in the UFC have tended to come against higher level opposition this may could be a match-up that enables him to get back in the win column via a 1st round KO finish.

Tai Tuivasa to win by KO in Rd1

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UFC Fight Night 275: Maddalena vs. Prates Prelims

(Predicted winners in bold)

Marwan Rahiki vs. Ollie Schmid
Cameron Rowston vs. Robert Bryczek
Junior Tafa vs. Kevin Christian
Jacob Malkoun vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Colby Thicknesse vs. Vince Morales
Ben Johnston vs. Wesley Schultz
Jonathan Micallef vs. Themba Gorimbo
Dom Mar Fan vs. Kody Steele

MMA Writer

Ross Cole

Ross Cole is one of the most prolific mixed martial arts writers in the world.

Having written more than 22,000 MMA news stories for MMA Insight, which he founded in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Few people know the UFC and the sport of MMA like Ross, and he has built a solid reputation for being one of the best MMA tipsters in the world.

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