Jack Della Maddalena has sights on title redemption after UFC Perth

Six months after the first loss of his UFC career, Jack Della Maddalena finally gets a chance to right the ship next week.

For Maddalena, though, the stakes will be a lot higher than those of the average fighter trying to rebound from their first loss in the UFC. For Maddalena, it'll be his first fight back after he lost the welterweight title.

Maddalena (18-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will return at home when he headlines UFC Fight Night 275 against rising welterweight contender Carlos Prates (23-7 MMA, 6-1 UFC). Their five-rounder tops the bill May 2 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, Maddalena's home country.

These days, deep into his camp for the Brazil's Prates, Maddalena isn't thinking about the title loss to Islam Makhachev, who moved up from lightweight to challenge for the belt and put on a grinding and dominant performance that Maddalena had few answers for. But shortly after the fight, he'd have been singing a different tune.

"It took a few days," Maddalena told MMA Junkie Radio. "It was a tough pill to swallow, but it didn't take too long. I realized it wasn't a good performance and I lost to the better man. All you can do is go back to the gym, go back to the drawing board, figure out what went wrong, and try to make the changes to become a better fighter."

Maddalena said the feeling fighting Makhachev, a student and training partner of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, was like being "stuck in the mud." His fight against the new champ came in his first attempted defense after he took the title from Belal Muhammad six months prior.

"I wasn't really getting the footwork going and wasn't aggressive enough off my back to create opportunities to get back to the feet," the Aussie said. "It was a tough performance, but I lost to the better man that night.

"… I was all right. At the end of the day, it's just a fight. Not much really changes. My friends and my family still love me. You have to realize that life goes on, regardless of the win or the loss."

True: Life goes on. But for someone in Maddalena's position, life would likely go on a lot better with a win over Prates. "The Nightmare" has bonuses in all six of his UFC wins – all six of which have been knockouts. If Prates hasn't been taking out guys like ex-champ Leon Edwards and gatekeeper Neil Magny with his vicious left, he's stopped them with spinning elbows (Geoff Neal) or knees (Charles Radtke).