UFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs Prates
Let’s not lie to ourselves here. This card isn’t good. You’ve got a real main event with actual stakes, and then a bunch of fights that feel like they were put together on a random Tuesday afternoon just to fill airtime. There are multiple guys on this card who are straight up not UFC caliber in 2026. But that’s what makes cards like this dangerous. Low level fights, bad cardio, questionable IQ… that’s how you get absolute chaos.
This one’s in Australia, which means a 4 AM EST start. Set the alarm if you’re serious… but if you wake up, check the lineup, and hit snooze a few times, that might actually be the sharpest move you make all night.
Jack Della Maddalena vs Carlos Prates
This is a clash of two prolific strikers and a fight I’ve been looking forward to since it was officially announced. I love both fighters’ games, but Carlos Prates is just different. He looks huge facing off with Jack and he has a clear path to a title fight next if he can beat JDM on Saturday. I think he will.
JDM looked like a broken man late in his fight against Islam, and the image of him at the brink of tears on the stool before heading out for the 5th round is stained in my mind. How many times have we seen a guy on a roll like JDM was, they lose their title and it just sends them off the deep end? I think we see that here.
Breaking down the Xs and Os, JDM has trouble stopping strikes from range. We saw Kevin Holland light him up with his strikes from range. Prates is a far better striker and offers a different look as a southpaw, and he’s so good with his knees and elbows. It’s just something he’s never been faced with.
I think Prates is live to get the finish, but JDM is just so tough.
Prates is the winner.
Beneil Dariush vs Quillan Salkilld
Father Time is undefeated.
While this is considered a step down in competition from the killers Benny has been up against lately, Quillan Salkilld is a fast rising star in this sport. His head kick KO against Nasrat may have been the KO of 2025.
We’ve seen Benny’s durability fade when the first punch BSD threw in his last fight put his lights out. He has no chance trying to strike with Salkilld on the feet. I think Salkilld will be wiser than to wrestle with Benny, which is really Benny’s only path to banking minutes and winning rounds.
Benny has no chin and has complained about trying to make 155.
It’s all Salkilld, and he gets the finish early.
Tim Elliott vs Steve Erceg
There’s been a lot of dog love here and the reasoning makes sense. Tim Elliott is dangerous early in fights and has a great submission game, but if he doesn’t get it, he slows down in a big way.
Erceg has good cardio. We’ve seen him give Alexandre Pantoja all he could handle in a title fight, and then go on to lose a couple more fights in a row to KKF, a loss that has aged like milk, and Brandon Moreno before getting back on track against Ode Osbourne.
Tim Elliott hasn’t been very active of late, making only his second trip to the octagon since 2023.
Elliott is tricky. He’s very awkward in his style, and his only loss in his last 6 came against Muhammad Mokaev, who would probably be flyweight champ right now if he could handle his shit outside of the octagon.
I’m having a hard time with this fight because I want to think that Tim Elliott is a stylistic nightmare for a technical fighter like Erceg, but everyone is on the dog here.
I think we see Elliott come out fast. We see Erceg do his thing in round 3, and this fight comes down to round 2.
I’ll go with Erceg to edge out a decision.
Shamil Gaziev vs Brando Peričić
This is an interesting fight.
Gaziev is flat out terrible. He’s sloppy, he’s slow, his cardio sucks, and his striking is bad. I don’t see a path to victory for him. He gets hit and doesn’t land enough.
Pericic is the better striker, hits harder, moves better, and he’s more sound defensively.
In a very weak heavyweight division, I think there are a lot of guys ranked that Brando can hang with. The two guys to beat Gaziev were powerhouse strikers, and I think this is just a terrible matchup for Gaziev.
Pericic by KO.
Tai Tuivasa vs Louie Sutherland
Let me get one thing clear in this matchup.
Both of these guys suck.
Louie Sutherland is a different level of suck.
When you look at his physique from his previous promotion, Levels Fight League, and compare it to his UFC physique, you would legitimately not believe it’s the same human being. Clearly the LFL allows you to inject anything that will fit in a syringe in your ass. Now he just looks like a before picture from The Biggest Loser but with worse cardio.
This matchup is the UFC dying to see one last Tuivasa shoey for old times’ sake.
A true loser leaves town bout.
Give me Tuivasa by Sutherland gassing. If it makes it out of round 1, this will make it to the judges because both these guys have such disgraceful cardio.
Look for lots of hands on hips and big deep breaths.
Prediction: Tuivasa by KO
Cam Rowston vs Robert Bryczek
Bryczek has had his moments of looking like he may be legit. His last win against Brad Tavares was impressive, but Brad Tavares isn’t a legit fighter anymore.
Rowston comes in from the notorious City Kickboxing gym. It’s just hard to forgive the beating Rowston was taking early on from Cody Brundage in his last fight before Brundage did what Brundage does and found a way to get himself finished.
I think Rowston’s length is actually a disadvantage here. He’ll struggle to keep the fight at the range where he can use his kicks effectively.
This fight is dog or pass.
I’ll take Bryczek.
Junior Tafa vs Kevin Christian
Expect some low level MMA here.
I mean these guys suck.
Tafa hits a little hard, but once you get him to the mat, you can start calling out his next opponent. It’s over.
Both these guys were subbed by Billy Elekana in their last fight.
Christian is very long and tall, but not a real threat in the grappling department.
This fight really sucks.
If Junior Tafa can’t put him away, he should strongly consider a new line of work.
Dog or Pass. Highly recommend Pass.
Jacob Malkoun vs Gerald Meerschaert
Meerschaert isn’t a UFC level fighter in 2026.
He looks like he wants no part of being in there once the fight starts and can’t wait to hit the quit button.
Malkoun looked great in his last fight, but it was against Torrez Finney, who was coming off a 2 year layoff due to a back injury.
It looks like Malkoun’s own injury is behind him.
This fight won’t be close.
Malkoun gets the finish.
Colby Thicknesse vs Vince Morales
Would it be an Australian card without Colby Thicknesse on it?
Anyways, Colby has terrible hands. He just can’t strike.
Morales is an older, tough guy, but dangerous in the submission game.
This is a significant drop in class from his last couple fights against Chiwiwis and Elijah Smith. He was close to finishing Chiwiwis with a choke but just couldn’t get it.
I think Morales can run through him.
My only concern is his IQ… or lack of it.
If he avoids his usual mistake, this fight isn’t close.
Vince Morales by submission.
Wes Schultz vs Ben Johnston
Wes Schultz is terrible and fits the theme of this card perfectly: non-UFC level fighters somehow ending up on a UFC card.
In what felt like his 12th attempt on DWCS, Schultz finally got a win via silhouette stretch submission. It was cool, I can’t lie.
But holy shit is he bad on the feet.
He’s petrified to get hit and can’t absorb damage.
Johnston has a good BJJ game and very good Muay Thai. Knees in the clinch, strong leg kicks.
He got taken down at will in his last fight, but it’s a lot easier to stuff takedowns when you don’t have to respect your opponent’s striking.
Johnston gets him out of there however he wants.
Jonathan Micallef vs Themba Gorimbo
Micallef is super awkward.
He was getting his ass kicked for a round and a half against Oban Elliott before somehow pulling off a finish.
It wasn’t some technical masterpiece. He landed something awkward, Elliott got rocked, and Micallef just squeezed for dear life.
But hey! it worked.
Gorimbo dropped the ball against Jeremiah Wells. He looked okay on the feet and in offensive grappling, but once Wells got him on his back, he looked completely lost.
Another meh fight.
I think you side with the guy who finds ways to win over the guy who finds ways to lose.
Micallef gets it done.
Kody Steele vs Dom Mar Fan
Kody Steele is a very good grappler and a great athlete.
His striking defense is not good. He eats shots and does nothing to change his look.
Fan is a good mover and does things that judges like if it goes to a decision.
He just doesn’t have the power to be dangerous here.
He’ll have moments and probably make Steele bettors sweat a bit.
But in the end, the athleticism and raw tools of Kody Steele take over.
Kody Steele by Dec.
Final Thoughts
Real main event. Real implications.
Mixed with fights where you’re legitimately questioning how some of these guys are in the UFC.
Chaos card.
We’re so back.
But cannot wait for next weekends card.
