Jack
Della Maddalena didn’t stop responding to Carlos
Prates despite being on the losing end of their
fight.
Prates (24-7) took on Maddalena (18-4) in enemy territory at
UFC
Perth earlier this month. Prates picked apart the former
welterweight champion before finishing him in the third round.
Prates recently revealed that he kept talking to Maddalena during
the fight.
Advertisement
When Maddalena shot for a takedown in the opening round, Prates
taunted him with Nate Diaz’s
famous quote, “So you’re a wrestler now?” Maddalena responded by
proclaiming himself a well-rounded fighter. When Prates started
dominating Maddalena, he apologized to the Australian, explaining
that he was only a hurdle on the way to a title shot. Maddalena
urged Prates to go with him until the final bell. Prates was
impressed with Maddalena’s toughness.
A Little In-Fight Banter
“I started to talk with him, like, ‘Ah, you become a grappler now?
You’re a wrestler?’ And then he goes, ‘Nah, I’m a complete
fighter,’” Prates told Daniel Comier. “And I was like, ‘No, you’re
scared of me.’… He’s really tough. At one point in the fight, I
said, ‘Hey, sorry, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want title
shot.’ And he said, ‘Let’s go to the end.’”
Prates is confident that he will fight for the title in his next
fight. Reports suggest that Makhachev will defend his welterweight
title against Ian Garry
soon. Prates believes he will challenge the winner of that fight
and is willing to wait for it.