Athletes
Quillan Salkilld Has More Tricks In His Bag
In-Form Australian Lightweight Says There’s Much More To Come As He Looks To Continue His Winning Run Against Ranked Contender Beneil Dariush at UFC Perth.
Perth’s own Quillan Salkilld is excited to come home for his latest fight as he helps lead the charge for Australian fighters in the UFC in 2026.
Salkilld has been arguably the standout emerging talent from Australia since his arrival in the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024. Since then, he’s registered four straight wins inside the Octagon, including three first-round finishes, to ink his name in many analysts’ “Fighters to Watch” lists for 2026.
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Salkilld’s stellar form has seen him get plenty of additional attention, and the 26-year-old said he’s keen to live up to people’s expectations whenever he fights.
“That’s what I'm trying to do. Develop a good name, have people wish me well, and then prove all the people saying I'm good, prove them right,” he said. “I’ll just take it in and enjoy it, right? Just make the most of it. There's been quite a few memes with myself involved, and I find them hilarious. I like that. All the internet stuff is hilarious. So yeah, just take it in and enjoy it. But as long as I'm continuing to do what I do inside and outside the gym, that's all that matters.”
Quillan Salkilld Fight Week Interview | UFC Perth
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Quillan Salkilld Fight Week Interview | UFC Perth
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Salkilld has been handed the co-main event spotlight this weekend as he takes on seasoned lightweight contender Beneil Dariush at UFC Perth. It’s a chance to compete in his hometown, where MMA has exploded in popularity to the point that it has become a focal point for the sport in Australia.
“It’s wicked. I feel that Perth is now like a hub for MMA, especially here in Australia,” explained Salkilld. “Australian MMA has been on the rise for quite a while now, and it's only getting better and better. And now Perth is where it's at, it's the hub.
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“I’m honored to be able to be a part of that, and one of those guys. I’ve been looking to try to get on the same card as Jack (Della Maddalena) and Steve (Erceg) for a while. I've been on the same card as them back in the local show days. So now, doing it on the biggest stage in the world, it's remarkable.”
With fellow Perthites Erceg and Della Maddalena fighting before and after him, respectively, Saturday’s event will deliver a hometown triple-header to close the show, and Salkilld can’t wait to experience the raucous atmosphere at the RAC Arena when he makes the walk to the Octagon for his fight.
“It's gonna be nuts! Everyone's already getting on it at 6 am on a Sunday morning. So, you know, Saturday night, you could just imagine! It’s gonna be rowdy!” he grinned. “I'm just gonna think probably the same as usual (on my walkout). I always think, ‘How cool is this?!’ It just gets me going. The part I'm looking forward to the most, to be honest, is the walkout with my song, ‘Black Betty’, with the crowd roaring. It's gonna be something special.”
Quillan Salkilld Secures Opening Round Submission | UFC 325
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Quillan Salkilld Secures Opening Round Submission | UFC 325
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While Salkilld intends to embrace the atmosphere of the occasion, he insists he won’t let it distract him from the job at hand, as he prepares to face a dangerous finisher in Dariush. It’s a chance to elevate his stock even further by adding a respected name to his resumé. But, rather than thinking about the potential rewards, he’s focusing on the fight itself.
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“It’s business as usual, but I do understand it’s a very big opportunity,” he said. “I’m looking to make a statement and get into those rankings. I want that number next to my name when it’s being called out. So, yeah, I do understand how big a moment this is, but when I actually fight, I always fight calm and composed, as if it's not. I don’t get too fixated on the outcome. I just focus on what’s right in front of me, and what I’ve got to do to get the job done.”
What’s in front of him is a seasoned veteran of 25 UFC fights, who has prior wins over the likes of Renato Moicano, Mateusz Gamrot, Tony Ferguson, and Drew Dober. It’s exactly the step up in class Salkilld was hoping for, and he admitted he was excited as soon as he got offered Dariush as an opponent.
“I was pumped. This is a name I've been looking forward to fight for a while,” he enthused. “I always thought this is one of the guys I’m probably going to get matched up with down the line. And now we're here. I just think, yeah, this is cool. This guy's been the UFC for ages – since well before I even started training, since before I even knew about the sport. So it's going to be a cool, cool challenge for me.”
As for the matchup itself, Salkilld thinks their respective approaches should mesh well and deliver an exciting fight for the fans, with both men capable of finishing fights from just about anywhere.
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“Both of our styles are kind of similar in terms of how we approach fights, where we might get a finish on the feet, or on the deck. It might be a war, might be a quick night,” he said. “So I think it's going to be random for both of us, to be honest. I don't even think we both know what's going to happen. It might be a bit of a random one, this one!”
And Salkilld said that potential randomness might open up the chance for him to let his hair down a little more in the Octagon and try some different techniques that he hasn’t been able to pull out of the bag in his UFC appearances so far.
“I’d like to show some more flashy stuff,” he admitted. “I've got the flashy throw, but maybe on the feet, some spinning stuff. I just never thought to throw it. In the gym, I'll throw some stuff, but yeah, in the actual fight, I just stick to the basics, really. But I want to get less basic and start being a bit more flashy with some of the techniques I throw.”
With Salkilld excited at the opportunity, motivated at the chance to play a starring role in his hometown, and eager to showcase some spectacular new techniques from his arsenal, all that remains is for him to negotiate his way through the rest of fight week, make weight, then step into the Octagon and deliver on home soil.
And after picking up Performance of the Night bonuses in three of his four UFC appearances so far, he hopes that his work this weekend will be enough to earn him bonus number four to cap off a perfect weekend in Perth.
“As long as I get another bonus, I’ll be happy as,” he grinned. “Hopefully it’s a performance-worthy night for me.”
UFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs Prates took place live from RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia on May 2, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!