The UFC returns to Perth, Western Australia this Saturday, and the UFC Fight Night event will take place in local primetime for the Australian fans.
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates
The main event for UFC Perth will see Jack Della Maddalena return to the cage for the first time since losing the welterweight title to Islam Makhachev at UFC 322.
The loss to Makhachev marked the first setback of Dalla Maddalena’s UFC run, and it also ended an 18-fight win streak that began after the Australian began his professional MMA career with back-to-back losses in 2016.
Standing across from the former champion will be the division’s #5-ranked contender Prates, who is eager to try and throw his name into the mix for a title shot after he brutally knocked out former welterweight titleholder Leon Edwards and Geoff Neal to rebound from his first UFC loss against Ian Machado Garry.
Beneil Dariush vs. Quillan Salkilld
The night’s co-main event is a classic case of the UFC matching a credentialed veteran up with a rising contender, as Quillan Salkilld will attempt to break into the lightweight rankings when he takes on Beneil Dariush.
Currently ranked at #12 in the official UFC lightweight rankings, Dariush suffered a 16-second knockout-loss at the hands of Benoit Saint-Denis in his last outing at UFC 322. That left the 36-year-old on a 1-3 run across his last four fights, and he’s been stopped with strikes in the first round of all of those losses.
Salkilld joined the UFC off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024 and has gone 4-0 to start his career with the promotion. Three of those victories have come via finish, and the Australian also earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses after three all of those bouts.
Can Tai Tuivasa finally halt his losing skid?
One of the major storylines heading into UFC Perth is the status of fan favorite Tai Tuivasa, who has fallen out of the heavyweight Top 15 after losing six-straight fights.
“Bam Bam” was originally set to try and snap his losing skid against Sean Sharaf before Sharaf was forced to withdraw from the event with a fractured nose. Louie Sutherland has stepped up to face Tuivasa on very short notice, and “Vanilla Gorilla” is also desperately in need of a win in Perth following an 0-2 start to his UFC career.
Ollie Schmid gets short-notice debut vs. undefeated Marwan Rahiki
Sharaf wasn’t the only fighter to withdraw from UFC Perth on very late notice, as Jack Jenkins was also forced off the card due to injury and left Marwan Rahiki without an opponent.
The UFC was put in a difficult spot to find a new opponent for the undefeated Rahiki with less than a week to go until the card, and the promotion surprisingly elected to sign City Kickboxing fighter Ollie Schmid to make his Octagon debut.
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Schmid is 4-2 as a professional but has won three-straight fights, and he’s stepping up for a tough debut matchup against a fighter that’s won all eight of his pro bouts via finish and just stopped former Cage Warriors titleholder Harry Hardwick in his UFC debut last month.
Ben Johnston and Dom Mar Fan will also make their respective promotional debuts against Wes Schultz and Kody Steele as part of the UFC Perth prelims, and another standout matchup from the main card is the flyweight tilt between former title challengers Tim Elliott and Steve Erceg.
Tim Elliott and Steve Erceg will square off on the UFC Perth main card. (Zuffa LLC)
