A fan-friendly welterweight contest is headed to Perth, Australia.
Former welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena will take on knockout artist Carlos Prates in a 170-pound contest at RAC Arena on May 2.
The UFC made the announcement Saturday during the broadcast of UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Kavanagh.
Della Maddalena began his UFC run 8-0 and beat Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 last May to become champion but failed to defend the belt when he lost a decision to Islam Makhachev at UFC 322 in November.
The 29-year-old ex-champ is from Perth and should have the crowd on his side. Della Maddalena last fought in his home city at UFC 284 three years ago. He won by first-round submission that night and received a performance bonus.
Brazil’s Prates, 32, is red-hot and coming off back-to-back highlight-reel knockouts of Geoff Neal and former champion Leon Edwards. Prates is 6-1 in the UFC with his one loss being a short-notice five-round decision to Ian Machado Garry and all six of his wins being via KO.
This is the fourth consecutive year the UFC has held an event at the Perth venue. The most recent card there was in September when Carlos Ulberg knocked out Dominick Reyes in the main event.
