Jack Della Maddalena’s coach says UFC ignored their preferred opponent to make Carlos Prates fight

The UFC gave Jack Della Maddalena two options for his return to the Octagon.

This Saturday, Della Maddalena faces Carlos Prates in among the finest non-title foremost events that we’re more likely to get in 2026.

The 2 welterweight strikers meeting for the primary time has the potential to be a firefight between two elite gunslingers for so long as it lasts.

While Della Maddalena and Prates agreed to fight one another long before the bout was made official, there was one other opponent on the table for the previous welterweight champion.

Who’s more more likely to win a UFC title in the longer term: Jack Della Maddalena or Carlos Prates?

Explain your pick within the comments below

Jack Della Maddalena’s coach says they picked a unique opponent to Carlos Prates for return fight

Jack Della Maddalena’s coach recently told the story of how his upcoming fight with Carlos Prates was made.

Scrappy MMA’s Ben Vickers said that after Della Maddalena lost his title to Islam Makhachev, the UFC presented them with two different options.

Nonetheless, he believes that the promotion at all times had a preference of which one they desired to be next on account of how the method played out.

“They principally said you may fight fighter A or fighter B. We picked fighter A they usually gave us fighter B,” he told Southern Cross Combat. “They principally wanted a certain fight, I believe. We’re and can at all times be anyone, anywhere, anytime, and that’s Jack’s brand, so we might have fought anyone they put in front of us.”

Vickers said that he didn’t wish to name the opposite fighter in case it impacted Della Maddalena’s profession by upsetting the UFC.

That being said, ‘JDM’ could have already revealed who the opposite welterweight contender that was recommend was.

“I used to be excited,” Della Maddalena told MMA Junkie when sharing how he reacted to the Prates fight being pitched. “Carlos and Michael Morales, they were kind of the 2 names that were floating about, that the UFC said they were keen to matchup, so I used to be just kind of waiting but either one among those. I used to be really enthusiastic about either one among those.”

Morales recently met with Hunter Campbell which suggests that he could have an announcement for his next fight coming within the near future.