UFC Fight Night 275 takes place tomorrow in Perth, Australia and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights below.
Main Card
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates
Jack Della Maddalena lost the welterweight belt in his first title defense and now looks to get back on track against Carlos Prates, who comes in off two KO wins in a row.
The 29-year-old Maddalena was controlled on the mat for the best part of five rounds by the sport’s current No.1 pound-for-pound fighter Islam Makhachev. This was no big surprise as JDM is a decent, but limited grappler and is far more effective when he’s able to operate on the feet. As such this new match-up against Prates suits him far better. JDM’s blistering boxing at close quarters with tight, accurate combinations to the head and body saw him overwhelm his early opponents, and while opponents have learned not to engage him so readily on his terms, he’s since managed to do a solid job of showing a more patient, tactical approach, together with having solid striking defense and reliable cardio.
The 32-year-old Prates is also a striker and has a vast amount of experience when you consider he also juggled muay thai and kickboxing bouts alongside his regional MMA fights for many years. Prates is an impressively potent finisher, with all six of his UFC wins to date coming via KO. He’ll have a 2″ height and 5″ reach advantage here and that plays into his dangerous, versatile striking game where all eight limbs are a theat. Beyond that, while he has a few early‑career submission wins, those were balanced out by a few losses by sub too, so these days he makes use of solid takedown defense to keep the action where he’s most effective.
Maddalena is the more methodical and defensively sound fighter here and I think his focus on staying more active behind boxing combinations could give him the edge early. It’s going to be difficult to continually navigate his way into range against a sniper like Prates though, whose longer reach and bigger one-shot power will eventually lead him to a crushing blow that paves the way for a 3rd round TKO finish.
Pick: Carlos Prates wins by TKO in Rd3.
Beneil Dariush vs. Quillan Salkilld
Beneil Dariush is coming in off three losses in his last four fights, while Qullan Salkilld rides the momentum of a four‑fight winning streak.
There’s been question-marks over the 36-year-old Dariush’s chin for many years, but it’s become impossible to ignore now as all three of his latest losses came via strikes in the first round, including a 64 second KO defeat to Arman Tsarukyan and 16 second knockout against Benoit Saint Denis last time out. That’s not all though as in-between those two defeats he’d actually taken an 18 month lay-off after it emerged he’d also been knocked out in training too. Since that break doesn’t seem to have helped it feels like he’s now taking a big risk continuing to compete. It’s a harsh situation for a fighter who is undoubtedly talented, particularly with his impressively strong, composed grappling game and assured wrestling. He’s also a solid striker with unexpectedly impactful punching power that opponents have to be wary of, but unfortunately his lack of durability puts him in danger every time he engages on the feet.
The 26-year-old Salkilld has already earned ‘Debut of the Year’ and ‘Rookie of the Year’ accolades since joining from the Contender Series last year after going 3-0 in 2025, including two first‑round KO’s. He then opened up his 2026 account with a first‑round submission of Jamie Mullarkey, proving himself enough to berewarded with a big step up in competition this weekend. He’s an athletic, well-rounded fighter who mixes his strikes well with good accuracy and seems to be really harnessing his power now. He compliments that with solid wrestling and he can threaten with submissions on the mat too.
Dariush’s high-level grappling can be a problem for anyone if he can get the fight to the mat, but I really do believe his chin is completely shot at this stage and expect Salkilld’s precision and power to result in an early KO finish here.
Pick: Quillan Salkilld wins by KO in Rd1.
Tim Elliott vs. Steve Erceg
Tim Elliott has won his last two fights via submission and now goes up against Steve Erceg, who looks to build on the decision win that ended a three‑fight skid.
The 39-year-old Elliott is a long‑time flyweight veteran who is enjoying a late-career surge with four wins in his last five, including a submission over former title challenger Kai Asakura. His striking has always been awkward and unorthodox and lacks power, but his odd rhythm and angles can unsettle some fighters. His best work comes through his gritty wrestling and grappling that can wear down opponents over time, but while that can lead him to submission and decision wins, he has also been submitted himself on six occasions over the years.
The 30-year-old Erceg was surprisingly quickly fast-tracked to title contention after impressive with three wins at the start of his UFC run. However that perhaps came a bit too soon as he went on to lose a trio of fights afterwards against leading 125lb talents. After a step back in competition he’s got a win under his belt to regain some confidence. Erceg is a disciplined, well‑rounded fighter who has solid boxing technique with good accuracy and timing, along with capable wrestling, while it’s worth noting his grappling was actually his main calling card on the regional circuit and earned him six submission wins.
Erceg is quite a composed fighter and I think that will serve him well against Elliott’s scrappy style, enabling him to land the cleaner strikes and not get caught up in too many chaotic scrambling situations on his way to earning a decision victory.
Pick: Steve Erceg wins by decision.
Shamil Gaziev vs. Brando Peričić
Shamil Gaziev looks to rebound from a KO loss when he squares up to Brando Pericic, who has won both his UFC fights so far.
The 36-year-old Gaziev was undefeated when he joined the UFC in 2024 but he’s only gone 3‑2 since, with both losses coming via strikes when taking a step up in competition against Jairzinho Rozenstruik (TKO) and Waldo Cortes-Acosta (KO). He’s a stocky, fighter who lacks athleticism, but has fairly heavy-hands that’s helped him deliver 9 finishes so far. He mixes his martial arts as he’ll also use his strength in the clinch, work in some wrestling, and he has solid ground ground‑and‑pound, and three submission wins. His durability at this level is becoming a concern though and his cardio is also questionable.
The 31-year-old Pericic is far less experienced than Gaziev at 6‑1 and has finished all his wins in the first round, including stopping his first two UFC opponents in under two minutes each. He’s the better athlete here and likes to start quickly with versatile kickboxing-orientated offense. He’s not the most well-rounded fighter though and his only loss so far was by submission.
Gaziev could have a chance to utilize his broader skill-set here to take Pericic out of his comfort zone, but I think Pericic comes out of the gates quickly with fast, high-volume striking to put him on the back-foot early on and deliver a TKO stoppage.
Pick: Brando Pericic wins by TKO in Rd1.
Tai Tuivasa vs. Louie Sutherland
Tai Tuivasa is in a must-win situation here after losing his last six fights. To do o he’ll have to beat a late replacement in Louie Sutherland, who was drafted in on a week’s notice after two suffering two UFC defeats so far.
The 33-year-old Tuivasa comes from a kickboxing background and is a bit quicker than you’d think for his pudgy physique, but he tends to shun game-planning and clean technique in favor of brawling and raw punching power. And he certainly has plenty of that as he demonstrated during a five‑fight T(KO) streak a few years ago, but the problem is that both before and after that he’s suffered lengthy losing slumps. He took time away from the sport not so long ago citing ‘burn-out’, but since returning there’s still no real indication that he’s been able to add to his skill-set and conditioning to give him a better chance to sticking around in the promotion for the forseaable future.
The 32-year-old is also in a tough spot as he’s still trying to prove that he’s a UFC level fighter after so far quickly losing once by submission and once by TKO in his two Octagon outings. Sutherland doesn’t have the same one-punch stopping power as Tuivasa, but his aggressive brand of striking that mixes the occasional knee and elbow in with his punches and kicks has still scored eight career finishes. He’s not a good wrestler, but he will still try to shoot for takedowns at times and and he does have solid ground-and-pound.
When two heavyweight sluggers like this get into the Octagon anything can happen, but while he’s been struggling against established heavyweights, this is a welcome step down in competition for Tuivasa and should enable him to deliver a big KO finish in the first round.
Pick: Tai Tuivasa wins by KO in Rd1.
Prelims(Predicted winners in bold)
Marwan Rahiki vs. Ollie Schmid
Cameron Rowston vs. Robert Bryczek
Junior Tafa vs. Kevin Christian
Jacob Malkoun vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Colby Thicknesse vs. Vince Morales
Ben Johnston vs. Wesley Schultz
Jonathan Micallef vs. Themba Gorimbo
Dom Mar Fan vs. Kody Steele
