Getty Images/UFC

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Australia for its
first event of May. Headlining
UFC Perth was the return of former welterweight champion
Jack
Della Maddalena against Brazilian contender Carlos
Prates. The 13-fight card also featured worthwhile fights in
the heavyweight, lightweight, featherweight and flyweight
divisions.

Here are the matches to make for the top UFC Perth main card
winners.

Prates (24-7) picked up the biggest win of his career at the
expense of Maddelena (18-4), who he
destroyed over three rounds en route to a TKO stoppage. While
extremely impressive, it doesn’t seem like Prates will leap
Michael
Morales in the sweepstakes to face Islam
Makhachev next due to his recent defeat to Ian Garry.
The Brazilian is 32, so he can continue to make his case by taking
on another contender. The winner of the upcoming Joaquin
Buckley–Sean Brady
fight next week would be great as both men are respected veterans
who would look good on the resume of “The Nightmare.” Let’s see if
Prates can score one more major win and get into either a title
eliminator or even a title shot if timing works out as he looked
fantastic tonight.

Quillan
Salkilld went from prospect to contender by finishing Beneil
Dariush with
an onslaught of punches. Salkilld (12-1) is now 5-0 inside the
Octagon and is only 26 years old, which gives him plenty of time to
keep improving. However, Salkilld isn’t looking to waste time and
made my job easy by calling out Mateusz
Gamrot for a fight. While a fight against “Gamer” won’t be
easy, it’s one I’d love to see. The 35-year-old Gamrot (26-4)
recently submitted Esteban
Ribovics to get back into the win column after losing to
Charles
Oliveira. He’s a respected contender, so it’d be a huge deal if
Salkilld can get past him, which certainly isn’t a given.

Steve
Erceg stayed disciplined on the feet against Tim Elliott
and took home a unanimous decision victory as a result. “Astro Boy”
has now won two fights in a row after a three-fight skid that saw
him fall short against some of the division’s best. Clearly a
contender, it’d be fun to see Erceg (14-4) take on England’s
Lone’er
Kavanagh next. Kavanagh (10-1) is just 26 but is coming off a
gigantic upset over Brandon
Moreno. The Great Britain Top Team member was previously
finished by Charles
Johnson, so it’s hard to read where exactly his ceiling is. A
fight against the 30-year-old Erceg would show exactly where both
men stand in the division currently and we can expect to see both
become mainstays for years to come.

Marwan
Rahiki made quick work of Oliver
Schmid after landing
some powerful punches. The undefeated Rahiki is now 9-0 as a
pro and 2-0 inside the UFC with the victory. “Freaky” should face a
much more experienced opponent in his next outing and Darren
Elkins fits the bill nicely. “The Damage” holds a 29-12 record
and despite being 41 is 2-1 in his last three fights with wins over
T.J.
Brown and Daniel
Pineda showing that he’s still dangerous. If Rahiki can get
past the featherweight mainstay then we’ll know that he’s a true
prospect in the division.

Australia’s Brando
Pericic continued his ascent by flooring Shamil
Gaziev with
a brutal punch. Now 3-0 inside the Octagon, it’s time for a
step up in competition for Pericic (7-1). I’d like to see “The
Balkan Bear” take on Rizvan
Kuniev next. Kuniev (14-3-1) only has two fights inside the
promotion but has gone up against much tougher competition, losing
to Curtis
Blaydes and then taking a decision over Jailton
Almeida. Let’s see if the 31-year-old Pericic is someone to
watch at heavyweight or if the Russian is simply too much for him.