The UFC will return to our screens on Saturday, boasting a main card featuring the likes of Chael Sonnen vs ‘Shogun’ Rua, Alistair Overeem vs Travis Browne, and Urijah Faber vs Yuri Alcantara. Two very well known names who will not feature on the main card will be former title challenger Michael ‘Mayday’ McDonald (15-2) and British fan favourite Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett (27-3).
Brad took time out of his busy schedule over in Coconut Creek, Florida at American Top Team to speak to MMA Plus.
“My training has gone all to plan. I’ve done what I always do, I get ready in England and then 8 weeks before my fight I go to American top team, so I’ve been out here for about 8 weeks, I’m in good shape, I’m ready to go.”
Brad has been going to the famed American Top Team for quite a while now. ATT boast some of the most talented fighters in the world such as Thiago Alves, ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, Hector Lombard and Glover Teixeira. Pickett has trained with many of the top guys but gives credit to one man in particular as being his main training partner.
“Well it’s always been Mike Brown, he’s always been my training partner, but that’s one of the big advantages of coming here, there’s so many great guys of different heights and different sizes, but the main guy who’s been my training partner since I’ve been here is Mike Brown.”
Brad’s opponent on the 17th will be Michael McDonald. ‘Mayday’ has been viewed as somewhat of a phenom in recent years given his age and what he has been able to accomplish. While the Londoner is respectful of the youngster, he doesn’t believe that McDonald is at the level of some of his former foes .
“He’s a tough opponent, anyone within the UFC is tough. It’s not easy, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. To be honest I don’t think it’s his time yet, I think it’s more my time, you know? He’s still young and he hasn’t fought the kind of opposition I have. The only top guy he’s fought, he got beat by and that’s Renan Barao. I don’t think he’s beaten anybody really in my eyes who’s top ten calibre.”
‘One Punch’ touched on Michael’s age. The boy from California is only 22 and has already fought 17 times professionally, and has competed for a title in a main event of a UFC card. This is a huge difference in comparison to Brad, who didn’t even get into MMA until he was 26. He would be forgiven for thinking what might have been if he had found MMA earlier in life, considering how far he has gone in his career, but that just isn’t how Pickett thinks about it.
“The sport, when I was younger, wasn’t even about, so no not really. It’s hard to tell you really. I didn’t get into the sport until I was 26. Sometimes I think as an athlete you have a sort of shelf life. If I’m getting punched in the head and having hard sparring and fights since I’m 21 or 19 or whatever, then maybe I would have been burned out by now. “
Both guys are big draws for the fans, with knockout power and a willingness to stand and bang, which is why it seems a weird decision to put this fight among the prelims when someone like Uriah Hall is on the main card in only his second fight in the promotion, the first of which was a loss. On the other hand, it is possible that UFC brass have put them on the preliminary card in order to try and get fans to buy the PPV, after watching these two trade and compete in a war. Brad doesn’t know why he’s been bumped to the lower section of the card, but thinks it may have to do with the last season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’
“well that’s not my decision really. I’m a little bit disappointed that I’m not on there (main card) but at the end of the day UFC are a business. I think Uriah Hall had massive viewings on the Ultimate Fighter so they probably think Uriah will get more viewers than me and McDonald.”
Let’s give it to him, Uriah Hall is a polarizing character and that kick in ‘TUF’ made him an instant star. While Pickett thinks Uriah will get more viewers than himself and McDonald, this is very much a fight that fans have been looking forward to since it was announced. This bout has ‘Fight of the Night’ written all over it, and may come down to who’s chin can withstand the most, or who can land the first heavy blow.
“I think both of us are quite well-versed and we’re both prepared to go wherever it goes. We both obviously like the stand up but we’ll both do what we need to do. If I hurt him, he might try to go for a takedown and if he hurts me, vice-versa, we’re both MMA fighters. Our styles do make it look like it could be a ‘Fight of the Night’ but I thought that when I was gonna fight Eddie Wineland, but he didn’t come to play and I thought that fight was very boring.”
Speaking of Eddie Wineland, that obviously wasn’t the way Pickett wanted that fight to go, but the only way he would ever want to fight anyone he has already competed against would be if there was something in it for him.
“I’m not really in to rematches to be honest unless there’s something at the end of it. So if Eddie beats Renan Barao for the interim belt and I get a chance to fight him, of course I’ll fight him, same with Barao. For me, there’s so many people out there, I’d like to have new challenges and fight new people, I’d only like to fight someone that I’ve fought against if there’s something at the end of it like a title or number one contendership.”
Brad has been fighting the best in the world for years now, including two current UFC champions (Demetrious Johnson and Renan Barao), but has never gotten that opportunity to fight for the belt in either the WEC or UFC. Surely a win over McDonald on Saturday would put him in a prime position to campaign for that elusive shot?
“Hopefully it would. It’s not an easy task to beat Michael McDonald, I’ve got to beat him first and if I beat him and you speak to me then, I’ll maybe be saying different things but I’ve got to keep myself grounded and think about what’s in front of me and at the moment that’s Michael Mcdonald. If I get past that hurdle then I might be looking at things like title shots but if I get beat from him I’m going in one direction and if I beat him I’m going in the opposite direction, so it’s up to me to make sure I go in the right direction.”
A fan favourite who’s picked up 4 bonuses in his five fights in the UFC so far, Brad has in the past received praise from UFC president Dana White. With all of the attention on the bonuses and pay structure in the last couple of months, he weighed in with his stance on the matter as well as feeling some job security in that the boss is a fan.
“I don’t see why they would do that (get rid of fight night bonuses), it’s unfair on people like myself who go out there and try and put on a show for the fans. It would be kind of like encouraging people to go out there and be iron blankets, just lay down and make the fights boring, so I don’t think that would actually happen. People who have been moaning about the UFC and money, for me, I didn’t start on good money. What happens is that the UFC gives you a platform to go on and earn good money. As soon as you get signed by the UFC it doesn’t make you a multi-millionaire. Bisping wasn’t earning the money he’s earning now when he was in his first fights. It’s up to you to go on and make good money and you do that by winning fights. At the end of the day, your future is in your own hands. I don’t care about money, money’s money. I know that if I win and do well then money will come. As for Dana, definitely, it’s nice to have Dana White on my side, especially with him being a guy who’s been around the sport for such a long time and knows the sport really well and has seen so many fights. Like you say, it gives you a little bit of job security if your boss is a fan of you. With the UFC being a bit tougher at the moment it’s nice to have Dana on my side.”
Brad gained some national TV exposure over here in Britain earlier this year when himself, Paul Mcveigh and Colin ‘Freakshow’ Fletcher were featured on the Channel Five program ‘Fighter’s Wives, along with their partners. While he admits it was enlightening to him, to see just what his partner goes through ahead of his fights, he also gives praise to how the program portrayed the sport as a whole.
“For me, it wasn’t about me, it was really about Sarah, so it was fun to watch her and see her side of things. I didn’t ever know how bad she got before fights (before the program), she did so well to hide it from me. I didn’t realise just how emotional she can get. It gave me a lot more understanding of my own girlfriend. It was really good to watch and I think it showed the sport in the right way. Where a lot of people have a lot of negativity towards the sport, they showed it in the right way.”
You can see Brad Pickett take on Michael McDonald live on BT Sports 1 on the 17th of August. It will be a fight you don’t want to miss!
Gregg Mullen
Photo: Mark Blundell
