UFC Perth went down early Saturday morning for North American viewers as the promotion ventured to Perth in Western Australia. The Aussie-based card featured 13 fights with six of those bouts featured on the main card. In the main event, Carlos Prates took on the former UFC welterweight champ in Jack Della Maddalena. And in the co-main event a changing of the guard between long time ranked fighter, Beneil Dariush and 2024 Contender Series alum, Quillan Salkilld. This card’s edition of What’s Next: Losers features a wide variety of fighters in all different points in their UFC careers.
Jack Della Maddalena
(#5) Carlos Prates put on a fantastic performance as he out struck (#1) Jack Della Maddalena on his way to a violent third round finish in the main event of UFC Perth on Saturday. The loss was JDM’s second in a row after he lost a unanimous decision to Islam Makhachev last November, failing to keep Islam from reaching double champ status. JDM is now winless since defeating Belal Muhammad to capture the welterweight belt last May. He’s now 8-2 since being signed to the promotion off the 2021 season of the Contender Series.
JDM’s next fight should be against another former UFC welterweight champion, Leon Edwards. The matchup would line up too well. Both are strikers. Both former champs at 170lbs. And both were stopped in their last fight by Carlos Prates. They’ll be relatively close together when the new rankings come out. Only hang up here is that Leon last fought way back in November so timing wouldn’t matchup too well. But it could still work. These two were actually booked to share the octagon in March of 2025 before JDM rebooked. Leon is currently on a 3-fight losing skid stemming from his loss to Belal Muhammad in 2024. Excellent fight night main event here that would be sure to deliver.
I like this fight more than a potential Kamaru Usman matchup, as Usman is coming off a unanimous decision victory to Joaquin Buckley but has been on the shelf for nearly a year.
Maddalena’s next fight: (#8) Leon Edwards
Beneil Dariush
Quillan Salkilld smoked (#12) Beneil Dariush inside of the first round on Saturday to earn himself a performance of the night bonus. Dariush becomes the fourth first round finish and bonus winning performance for Salkilld in his now 5-fight UFC career. Beneil has now lost four of his last five fights and has been finished in the first round of each. Dariush was originally supposed to face (#14) Manuel Torres in mid-April but that fight fell apart after Manuel withdrew.
Beneil’s next fight should be against (#14) Manuel Torres. Dariush turns 37 on May 6th so this would fight would keep him against relevant (ranked) competition. Plus, the two were obviously the originally scheduled co main for UFC Perth. Torres is 5-1 with the UFC, all of his wins with the promotion have been within the first round and earned him a performance bonus. A pretty dangerous fight for Dariush at this stage in his career.
I’m leaning more towards a matchup against a fighter like Nasrat Haqparast depending on what happens with the rankings (lightweight rankings can be a little finicky sometimes). Haqparast is 10-5 with the UFC and was riding a 5-fight win streak before Quillan Salkilld starched him with a first round head kick last October. That fight could be on the main card of a fight night event and could offer absolute fireworks. Winner gets another shot back at the rankings.
Dariush’s next fight: Nasrat Haqparast or (#14) Manuel Torres
Tim Elliott
(#12) Steve Erceg extended his win streak to two on Saturday with his hard-fought unanimous decision victory over (#11) Tim Elliot. Elliot is now 2-2 in his last four fights and has an overall UFC record of 10-12 since he signed in 2012. Granted, it’s worth mentioning that both of those wins during this stretch (Sumudaerji and Kai Asakura) have earned him performance bonuses. Elliot turns 40 in December and still graces the rankings of the UFC’s flyweight division.
Pairing Tim up with the winner of Cody Durden vs. Ode Osbourne could offer a very fun veteran fight. Ode is 5-7 and 1 NC with the UFC while Cody is 7-8-1. Durden is rebounding from a 4-fight losing skid and picked up a victory opposite of Jafel Filho in his last bout. Osbourne has lost four of his last six. Backup option is to give Elliot (#15) Bruno Silva if he beats Edgar Chairez on June 6th. That would actually be the cleanest option here, the one that makes the most sense, but only if Silva gets the win on June 6th. Otherwise, matchmakers might lean towards squaring Tim off against an unranked fighter.
Elliott’s next fight: Ode Osbourne vs. Cody Durden winner or (#15) Bruno Silva if he beats Edgar Chairez
Ollie Schmid
Marwan Rahiki stayed perfect and extended his finish streak as he iced UFC newcomer Ollie Schmid on Saturday. Rahiki, a 2025 Contender Series alum was originally scheduled to take on Jack Jenkins. However, Jack had to withdraw from the fight after suffering an injury. 4-2 pro fighter, Ollie Schmid answered the short notice call while training for his HEX Fight Series 38 bout slated for May 30th.
Ollie’s second fight with the promotion should be against the loser of the Ramon Tavares vs. Kangjie Zhu fight. Tavares is 1-2 with the UFC since being signed off the 2023 season on the Contender Series. He is currently riding a 2-fight losing streak with unanimous decision defeats to Davey Grant and most recently, Jack Jenkins. Kangjie Is coming off of Road to UFC where he won three bouts. His fight with Tavares will be his UFC debut. Giving Ollie the loser of this fight makes a lot of sense and would give him a great opportunity to prove himself against a more evenly matched opponent with a full training camp. Timing would be decent as well as the pair are scheduled to fight on May 30th.
Schmid’s next fight: Ramon Tavares vs. Kangjie Zhu loser
Shamil Gaziev
Brando Percic delivered a stunning KO to punctuate his back and forth fight of the night winning heavyweight scrap with (#14) Shamil Gaziev on Saturday. The bout was pure excitement until it ended late in the second round. The defeat brings Shamil’s UFC record to .500 as he’s now 3-3 with the promotion. A far cry from the 11-0 record he entered the promotion with. After Gaziev’s first round defeat to Waldo Cortes-Acosta back in November, and the result in Perth, he is riding his first ever losing streak.
Shamil Gaziev’s next fight should be against (#15) Mick Parkin. Mick is a 2022 Contender Series alum that is 4-1 with the promotion since being signed. Parkin was last in action last March when he lost a unanimous decision to Marcin Tybura. Parkin recently withdrew from a fight against Mario Pinto that was scheduled for late March. Both guys are towards the bottom of the rankings and coming off of loses, so decent fight to make here.
Gaziev’s next fight: (#15) Mick Parkin
Tai Tuivasa
UFC Perth’s main card kicked off with a heartbreaker for fans in attendance as Louie Sutherland out grappled and neutralized fan favorite Tai Tuivasa over three rounds. Tuivasa, who once fought Cyril Gane in a title eliminator bout, has now lost seven in a row, actually stemming from that Gane loss in 2022. Tai hasn’t won in four years and has been finished in four of those seven defeats. Tuivasa is 8-12 with the promotion since being signed in 2017.
What to do with Tai here. What to do. Logic says he will almost certainly be cut. But I could see a scenario where he is kept around for just one more opportunity. It is the heavyweight division after all, and Tai is extremely likeable and just turned 33. Tai could potentially draw a fight with a guy like Sean Sharaf. Sean is 0-2 with the UFC and was the fighter originally scheduled to take on Tai at UFC Perth. Sean had to withdraw from the bout due to a broken nose. Sharaf’s UFC career has consisted of him being finished in the second round at the hands of Junior Tafa and Steven Asplund. Long story short, don’t be surprised to see Tai cut after this one, but if not, a do or die fight like this is what’ll be next.
Tai’s next fight: Cut or Sean Sharaf
