Jack Della Maddalena was angling for Carlos Prates before he was offered Leon Edwards.

Della Maddalena hasn’t competed since rallying to knock out Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 last March. Due to complications from his arm surgery, the Aussie missed out on his hometown show in Perth at UFC 305. But when the promotion announced UFC 312 Feb. 8 in Sydney, Della Maddalena wanted in.

Only issue is, Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) couldn’t get a top-ranked fighter to face him on that card. That’s why he contemplated accepting Prates’ (21-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) callout, before the UFC came knocking with a bigger opportunity on a different card.

“They just couldn’t get the fight,” Della Maddalena said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “None of the the guys in front of me wanted to really fly out to Sydney. The UFC never came to us, but me and Tim (Simpson) started floating the idea. I didn’t mind the idea of fighting Carlos Prates. I thought why not? He’s an up-and-comer.

“Gilbert gave me the opportunity. I’ve had a year off, so I was probably ready to step in and fight him. I like his style, but then the UFC, the first fight they came to me and said, ‘Do you want to fight Leon in London?’ and I just thought, ‘Yep, let’s just take the fight.’ It’s a big fight with a former champion, and it gives me an extra few weeks to ensure that the arm is strong. I had to jump on it.”

Della Maddalena meets Leon Edwards (21-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 255 headliner March 22 at The O2 in London (ESPN+). He hopes to earn a title shot with a win.

“I want to go in there and prove a point – prove a point that I could do to Leon what Belal (Muhammad) couldn’t do, and then secure the shot,” Della Maddalena said.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 255.

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