Jack Della Maddalena returns to the Octagon after suffering the first loss of his UFC career, getting swept on the scorecards by former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 322 last November. Considering Makhachev is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world and tied with Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in the history of the promotion, I’m not sure that defeat reflects poorly on the Aussie. Yes, Islam is better, but Islam is better than just about everybody at this point (until proven otherwise). Maddalena is an excellent boxer with sharp combinations and good control of range. That said, he continues to struggle against wrestlers, which is why the unheralded Bassil Hafez took him to a split decision, and why “JDM” needed a Hail Mary to save himself from a loss to Gilbert Burns — who took Maddalena down seven times for over five minutes of control time at UFC 299. He probably would have came up short in his bid to win the welterweight title from Belal Muhammad, but “Remember the Name” forgot the gameplan in one of the dumbest performances in championship history.

“I feel good, ready to put on a good performance,” Maddalena told. “There’s definitely pressure being the hometown guy. The majority of the people in the building want me to win, but I try not to focus too much on the outcome. They’re the sort of things you can’t control — winning or losing — so just focusing on going out there and putting on a good performance, a performance I can be proud of. That seems easier than putting the pressure on to try to go out there and win, but just going out there and performing well.” “Prates is an awesome fighter —really a dangerous guy, an exciting guy to watch,” Maddalena added. “He gets into a flow, and he looks really good. He put a lot of good fighters down for the count; it’s gonna be exciting. You’ve gotta be absolutely switched on — can’t lose focus in this one — but I believe we’ve got the skills to really push him, put a hard pace forward. I believe I’ve got the defensive skills to stay away from the big shots. I’m excited to perform, test my skills against an elite striker.”

Carlos Prates is hoping to resurrect some of the star power of The Fighting Nerds team, which took a major hit late last year and had fans calling them The Fighting Frauds. Prates was not immune to those struggles, coming up short against Ian Garry atop the UFC Kansas City fight card roughly one year back. That seems like ancient history at this point, as “The Nightmare” quickly rebounded with back-to-back knockout wins over longtime veteran Geoff Neal and former welterweight champion Leon Edwards. I don’t like to make it a habit of finding faults in winning performances, particularly finishes, but Neal has lost four of his last five, getting finished three times, and Edwards has dropped three straight in one of the biggest collapses in the history of the welterweight title picture. Offensively, Prates is a punishing striker with knockout power, coming into his UFC Perth headliner with advantages in both height and reach. Against Maddalena, the Brazilian will have to succeed where he failed against Garry; specifically, by having a Plan B in case the knockout doesn’t come early, something Prates has gotten used to in his nearly three years under the UFC banner.