According to the latest Jogo Hoje coverage of UFC Austrália and the official rankings shuffle after Perth, Carlos Prates didn’t just win at the weekend, he flipped the chessboard. One dominant run later, the Brazilian is now sitting 2nd in the middleweight rankings, and the title talk stopped being a whisper.
The punch that changed the division
In Perth, Australia, last Saturday (2), Prates turned the fight into a statement. Against an opponent with real pedigree and a former title background, he controlled the pace, forced the exchanges on his terms, and closed the door with a technical knockout in the third round. That’s the kind of finish that doesn’t disappear after the final bell, especially when it lands on the main card and turns into an atualização oficial do UFC talking point.
Let’s be blunt: ranking movement is one thing, but movement with impact is another. This wasn’t a “good win.” It was a performance that screams, “I belong at the front of the line.” And when Prates moves up, the whole ranking dos meio-médios feels it.
What the new ranking update really shows
On Tuesday’s official UFC update, Prates gained three spots, shooting from 5th to 2nd in the division dos 77 kg. That’s not a small nudge, that’s a full reclassification of who’s credible in the title picture.
Meanwhile, Jack Della Maddalena, who had been leading the pack at 1st, dropped to 4th. When a contender falls three places after a single night, you can read it two ways: either the matchmaking gap widened, or the division has decided it’s done waiting. In this case, it’s both.
At the top now sits Ian Machado Garry, the new standard-bearer. And if you’re mapping paths to a title shot, Garry’s position matters—especially because the UFC has a habit of rewarding momentum and punishing complacency.
Who gained and who lost room in the middleweight
Prates’ rise tells you the UFC is rewarding fight IQ plus finishing efficiency. The nocaute técnico in the third round doesn’t just add a W, it upgrades his profile from “dangerous” to “dangerous and ready.” That’s a different tier for the matchmaking department.
Della Maddalena’s fall is the other side of the coin. Losing the top spot and landing at 4th means his margin for error just got smaller. The ranking doesn’t care how close you felt it was; it cares what the division believes after the card principal.
- Carlos Prates: up from 5th to 2nd, after a dominant technical knockout (third round).
- Jack Della Maddalena: down from 1st to 4th after the loss.
- Ian Machado Garry: now leads the ranking dos meio-médios.
And yes, the champion landscape still runs through Islam Makhachev, but the contender map in the 77 kg division is now sharper. If Garry is the face at No. 1, Prates is the one the UFC can’t ignore at No. 2.
Why Prates entered for real in the belt conversation
Here’s the tactical angle that gets lost in the highlight-only coverage. A fighter can win and still look “incomplete.” Prates didn’t. He looked structured, timed, and comfortable turning moments into damage. That’s why this win carries weight beyond the result.
When a fighter jumps straight into the top two, the UFC isn’t only ranking him. It’s placing him on the shortest route to the belt. You can almost see the dominoes: title eliminator logic, style matchups, and the promotion’s need to keep the title picture hot. This is exactly what a title shot queue looks like when it’s being built in real time.
So what’s the question? Whether Prates “can” contend is the wrong framing. The right one is: how soon does the UFC decide to cash in on this momentum?
Other moves from UFC Austrália that reshaped the top 15
The Perth card also delivered ranking ramifications in other divisions, including some changes that happened even without fighters stepping in the cage that weekend. That’s how you know the UFC update is more than a scoreboard.
In the co-main event, Quinlan Salkkilld made noise against veteran Beneil Dariush. Salkkilld won quickly in the first round, and with that, he entered the lightweight rankings at 12th, while Dariush slid to 14th. It’s a clean insertion into the top 15—and those are the positions where future camp plans get reshaped.
In the flyweight picture, Steve Erceg kept building his form with a win over Tim Elliott. His performance pushed him from 12th to 10th in the 57 kg rankings. That’s steady upward trajectory, not a one-off bounce.
Then there were the heavyweight adjustments. Valter Walker returned to the top 15 at 13th, and Tallison Teixeira dropped from 13th to 14th. These are the kinds of shifts that matter for Brazilian and local hopes because they influence who gets pulled into the next wave of eliminators.
And at the bottom end of the list, Brando Pericic rounded it out as a newcomer after knocking out Shamil Gaziev in Perth. Even when you don’t make the headline, a ranking dos meio-médios isn’t the only story—every category is getting rewritten.
O Veredito Jogo Hoje
Jogo Hoje’s call is simple: Carlos Prates didn’t just earn a higher number, he earned a new role in the UFC’s plans. The jump to 2nd is a flashing light for everyone around the belt picture, and the tactical stamp on that nocaute técnico makes him the kind of contender the promotion can’t afford to delay. While others trade hype, Prates is building a path—step by step—toward the real thing.
Perguntas Frequentes
In what position did Carlos Prates finish in the UFC ranking?
Carlos Prates rose from 5th to 2nd in the UFC middleweight rankings after his win in Perth.
Who took over the lead in the middleweights after UFC Australia?
Ian Machado Garry assumed the top spot in the ranking dos meio-médios following the official update.
Can Carlos Prates fight for the belt right away?
With him now at 2nd, Prates is firmly in the belt conversation and positioned for the next major step toward a title shot, but the exact timing depends on the UFC’s eliminator and matchup plans.
