Jack
Della Maddalena could be back in the Octagon by spring. |
Getty/UFC
With Islam
Makhachev’s victory over Jack
Della Maddalena to capture
UFC welterweight gold, the possibilities of a matchup at the
top of the division have expanded.
Depending on who is chosen next to challenge Makhachev for the
belt, practically any combination among the top six in the division
would make sense. In an interview with Sherdog.com shortly after
his victory over Leon
Edwards at UFC 322,
on the same night that Makhachev took the belt from Madalena and
Michael
Morales defeated Sean Brady,
Carlos
Prates revealed that he believed the UFC would put him next
against Maddalena next.
Ben
Vickers, Maddalena’s coach, recently stated that negotiations
are already underway for his athlete to return to the Octagon,
potentially against the Fighting Nerds product between April and
May.
“We’re probably looking April-May time to get Jack back,” Vickers
told Submission Radio. “…Prates is one of the names being
thrown around, there’s other names being thrown around. There’s
nothing signed yet, but there are talks in progress… It would be
nice to have a striker.”
On social media, Prates reinforced his interest in the fight.
Through Instagram Stories, Prates shared the news and captioned the
post only with handshake, location and question mark emojis —
suggesting that the agreement is close and that only the location
of the duel remains to be defined.
Potential Southpaw vs. Southpaw
In that exclusive interview with Sherdog last November, Prates
explained why he believed the UFC would put him against the
Australian.
“I strongly believe that Usman will do a champ vs. champ challenge
against Islam for the belt; Ian Garry and
Morales dont like each other, so it makes sense they fight next,”
he said. “In my case, I just beat a former champion, (and) Madalena
is now a former champion too.
“Southpaw against southpaw, two strikers, there’s no way this fight
won’t end in a knockout.”
When asked about the best way to beat the former champion, Prates
didn’t hold back.
“Using low kicks and disrupting his movement, I believe I can
[earn] another knockout,” he said.