Carlos Prates chops down Jack Della Maddalena in UFC Perth main event

The Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division has a new contender. Brazilian knockout artist Carlos Prates entered hostile territory and walked away with an impressive stoppage victory tonight at UFC Fight Night 275 in Perth, Western Australia. Prates methodically wore down recent UFC title challenger Jack Della Maddalena en route to a third-round TKO stoppage in the night’s featured main event.

Prates (24-7, 7-1 UFC) kept his hands low in the opening round and alternated between landing punches to Della Maddalena’s (18-4, 8-2 UFC) face and kicks to his lead leg. Della Maddalena was eventually able to score a takedown, but not before eating two knees to the face, and he was unable to put Prates in danger on the ground. In the second round, Prates landed more knees and punches early on.

He eventually hurt Della Maddalena with another knee and a head kick, and swarmed on him with punches. Della Maddalena showed his resolve and fought on, but Prates knocked him down one more time with a chopping leg kick before the bell and that had Della Maddalena in visible pain. Seconds into the third round, Prates cut Della Maddalena on his forehead with a knee and he continued his assault with two knockdowns; first from a head kick and then from a one-two combination.

Della Maddalena stood up, but Prates sent him back down to the mat with another leg kick. He repeatedly kicked the downed Della Maddalena’s leg before following up with a series of elbows that prompted referee Mike Beltran to wave off the fight at the 3:17 mark of Round 3. Della Maddalena, who had won 18 straight fights before losing his UFC title bid to Islam Makhachev in November, now finds himself on a two-fight losing streak for the first time since he began his pro career with two defeats.