Brad Pickett förlorade ännu en fight under den senaste UFC-galan och har därmed sett sig besegrad i fem av sina sex senaste matcher. I ett öppenhjärtigt samtal berättar ”One Punch” att han önskar sig en sista fight innan han pensionerar sig.
Den 38-åriga fightern Brad Pickett (25–13) har haft en lång MMA-karriär sedan han debuterade i 2004. Han har mött några av de bästa i både World Extreme Cagefighting och UFC men har under de senaste åren haft svårigheter att handskas med sina motståndare.
Pickett har endast en gång vunnit två i rad inom UFC men har under åren 2014-2016 endast lyckats vinna en av sex matcher. Under UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson förlorade han mot den numera pensionerade slagskämpen Urijah Faber (34–10) och nu säger ”One Punch” att även han önskar att lägga handskarna på hyllan.
Det här hade han att säga om den senaste förlusten och sin framtid inom sporten:
”To be honest, I was disappointed in a way. It was great to fight someone like Urijah Faber and the whole thing and we were very pally leading up to it,” sade Pickett. ”At the end of the day, I think people get a real misconception of it. It’s a sport, and I’ve always said this. I’ve always said I fight because I don’t hate what’s in front me, but I love what’s in front of me–my wife, my kid, my training partners and my coaches. The person in front of me is just an object.
”With the fight, I was a bit disappointed in myself,” fortsatte Pickett. ”I don’t think Urijah hits that hard and I got dropped by Urijah. Don’t get me wrong it was a massive left hook, but I’m just thinking to myself, since that Thomas Almeida fight when it was the first time I ever got knocked out in a fight, normally I can get dropped and come back, but fighting, people don’t realize is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical.
”For me, always throughout my career I’ve found myself being a very mentally tough person, but I’ll be honest–I’ve been struggling of late. Obviously winning fights breathes confidence, and I remember back in the day when I suffered defeats you’d have the opportunity to go away, fight some lesser competition and build that confidence back up and then go and say, ’I’ll fight that guy.’ You can’t do that in the UFC. They see through you straight away. That’s one thing that’s always been hard. I’ve always fought the tough guys.”
”One Punch” Pickett fortsatte sedan med att beskriva sina känslor efter förlusten:
”I felt like I was a passenger on his roller-coaster, on his journey to retiring,” sade Pickett. ”It’s a tough one to get out of, this mental thing. Everyone who knows me knows I’m mentally tough, I’m tough as a competitor, don’t get me wrong, I’ll always get up, but it’s doubt. It’s doubt.
”When you’re winning, you think you’re invincible, but when you start getting beat, I’m like, in the back of my head you’re like you got beat, you got dropped in your last fight. That’s when you’re really mentally tough.”
I samtalet som tog vid under ”One Punch Podcast” berättade Pickett att han önskar att vara del av UFC Fight Night 108 som går av stapeln den 18 mars i London.
Skulle han få som han önskar kommer han att pensionera sig efter din matchen:
”I’m looking to get on the London card in March, it’s been in the back of my head, but I want to do what Urijah Faber did and retire in [my] hometown,” sade Pickett om sin pension. ”That’s what I really want to do. Now it’s time. I’m not doing myself justice, and I don’t want to be in the sport just to make up numbers. I love my job, but everything has to come to an end at some point, so I’d rather do it now while I can talk to my son, so I’d rather retire in the O2 in March next year in my hometown.
”The reason why’d do it then–I’d fight later on that year if I have to, but they are going to London and that’s where I’m from. I owe it to myself to retire in my hometown. That’s where I started fighting and they only go to London once a year so for me I wouldn’t want to wait another year. I don’t have it in my age or in my body for another year to pass. I want to get in on this March card and hand in my gloves and pursue other ventures you know.”
För tillfället ser UFC Fight Night 108 ut som följande:
- Lätt tungvikt: Francimar Barroso vs Darren Stewart
- Lättvikt: Joseph Duffy vs Reza Madadi
- Lättvikt: Teemu Packalen vs Marc Diakiese
- Fjädervikt: Arnold Allen vs Makwan Amirkhani
Vem skulle du vilja se Pickett möta i sin sista fight?
Omslagsbild via MMAnytt.se
