Feeling less pressure than his previous fight in London, Brad Pickett is prepared to drag Iuri Alcantara into deep waters at UFC 204, this Saturday in Manchester.
The 38-year-old return to the Octagon following a series of unfortunate events which have delayed his re-emergence as a Bantamweight fighter.
Originally set to fight Henry Briones at UFC Hamburg in September, Pickett’s journey to Manchester has been a rather interesting one.
An undisclosed injury in early August one again – as it had done in London – forced Briones from the action. Pickett was then matched with Alcantara.
The match-up was set to be one of the main features of UFC Fight Night 93, but a niggling back injury (his lumbosacral joint) meant the bout was moved back to Manchester on October 8.
“With the card being five weeks later, I thought it would be a better option for me. Don’t get me wrong I probably could have fought in Hamburg, but it wouldn’t have been the best me.”
Pickett admitted that UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby had been in contact with him about moving his fight to Manchester, before he had suffered an injury. Despite the early apprehension towards the switch, the injury to his L5S1 meant the UFC got their wish.
Alcantara will be only the second southpaw fighter Pickett has fought in his career, the first being Vaughan Lee – a man whom Iuri starched back in 2014.
With such an awkward style, Pickett gave credit to his opponent and acknowledged that the 36-year-old was rather underestimated.
“I think he’s very underrated, he’s a really, really tough opponent, dangerous striker, high level [Jiu-Jitsu] black belt and loads of good wins on his record. But I know him very well, I think he’s a very dangerous opponent, early on definitely, in the first round that’s where he’s at his best. For me, I need to try and drag him into deeper waters and that’s my game plan.
“My gas tank is normally pretty good so if he gets that far, I think it would favour me. I think I still have the tools to knock him out and submit him.”
Neither man is currently ranked in the top 15 of the Bantamweight division, but for Pickett, that doesn’t matter. The Londoner is more concerned with the personal achievement as opposed to the UFC’s rankings.
“If I beat him it’s a personal scalp because I know how tough he is, it’s not a case that I care about rankings anymore, for me rankings are just always people’s opinions apart from the number one spot, whoever’s got that belt, he is number one. End of story.”
Leading into his last fight at UFC London, Pickett admitted the there was a significant amount of pressure on himself to prove that he still had what it takes. With a new born child and the lingering discussion of retirement, he claimed his performance against Francisco Rivera was hindered by the ongoing speculation.
“Going back to my last fight, no matter who I fought, I had so much pressure on myself. From going down to Flyweight and having a child, I hadn’t won won a fight in two years nearly. I had to try and prove it to myself that I still had it. When I fought Rivera, I thought I fought shit and I put it down to the pressure going into the fight. It didn’t matter who I was fighting that night.
“A lot of people have got to see it, when you really get to this sort of level, I have worked so hard to get to where I am today and now I earn more money than I ever have in my whole career fighting for £200 on Portsmouth Pier. And now I have my family to look after.”
This time around, with the retirement talks moderated and having settled into life as a Father, Pickett is much happier leading into Saturday’s UFC pay-per-view.
The UFC 204 event will begin at 11:30pm UK time and is speculated to finish around 6am. Aimed to cater for the American audience, Pickett confessed his indifference towards the decision, regardless of the blaring hindrance on post-event celebrations.
“It gives you no options what to do afterwards. With it being in the early hours of the morning, you might have to go to a 24 hour McDonald’s if you want. Like I say, I’ve been around the game for a long time, I’m quite experienced and I’ve got a level head. Whether it’s in a stadium in front of 80,000 people or a car park, to me fighting is fighting, it doesn’t bother me too much.
“It’s the fight game, it’s obviously not ideal, but most things in life aren’t ideal, you just have to get on with things.”
