Brad Pickett frustrated by the ‘little pit-pat’ and ‘point-scoring game’ he found at flyweight

LAS VEGAS — The biggest underdog of UFC 189 may surprise you. While Brad Pickett had an admittedly rough detour at flyweight, the longtime stalwart of the bantamweight division’s top-10 figured a return home to his natural weight class would at least earn him a little more respect. That’s not the case though, and Pickett is baffled to see oddsmakers pin him as high as a 10-to-1 underdog against undefeated Brazilian prospect Thomas Almeida ahead of the pair’s main card match-up.

“It’s crazy,” Pickett told MMAFighting.com on Thursday. “It’s not exactly like I don’t punch hard and I’m not a well-rounded fighter. I was ranked No. 5 at bantamweight before I went down to flyweight.

“I think [people are writing me off]. Obviously. Everyone is seeing an 19-0 guy who’s finished like 14 fights. Of course he got a little bit of a hype train. So for me, last time I fought an undefeated prospect was Demetrious Johnson, and I beat him. Demetrious Johnson has gone on to do great things, so I think Thomas Almeida is young and he will go on the do great things. But I think it’s my time to humble him and give him a learning curve.”

Now that it’s behind him, Pickett admits his journey down to flyweight was little more than a “failed experiment.” The 36-year-old hopped divisions in the hopes that his 2010 win over Johnson would earn him a quick road to the 125-pound title, but the weight proved difficult to adapt to. After winning a decision over Neil Seery in his debut, Pickett looked sluggish in losing back-to-back fights over Ian McCall and Chico Camus, ultimately heading back up to 135 with a sour taste in his mouth from a style he found all too prevalent in the UFC’s lightest men’s division.

“At that weight class — no disrespect because some people do — but a lot of people don’t hit hard enough to finish people,” Pickett said. “You don’t see a lot of finishes at flyweight like you do with the heavyweight weights. It’s all about hitting and running, hitting and running. Hit and don’t get hit. It’s a point scoring system. How can you outpoint that guy in that round? For me, I just want to get involved in a fight. I don’t want to be chasing someone around the cage. Strike, then it’s ‘oh, come on.’ I’m getting peppered [while I’m chasing them], and not to sound disrespectful, but I never thought in a zillion years that any of them could knock me out with that little pit-pat.

“So that’s why I’d like to go back up a weight class and fight guys who would stand in front of me a little bit more and play my game. I don’t mind being the smaller guy this time. And like I said, the first opponent I got is Thomas Almeida, and he’s a guy who’s going to stand right in front of me, I’m not going to find it hard to hit him, and we’re going to throw down.”

If Pickett was looking for a dance partner who’d throw down with him, he definitely found his huckleberry in Almeida. The 23-year-old Brazilian has crafted a striking game within the famed walls of Chute Boxe Academy that well exceeds his years, and despite just fighting twice inside the UFC, Almeida has already developed a reputation as one of the most feared prospects to rise out of 135 in quite some time.

It’s a perfect storm for the perennially brawl-minded Pickett, and exactly the time of fight he’s looking for at this point in his career.

All five of Pickett’s most recent losses came against top-15 ranked foes, with four of them — McCall, Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland, and Renan Barao — coming against men ranked in their division’s respective top-6. So any rumblings of his demise may be premature considering that kind of strength of schedule.

But Pickett is more honest than most fighters. He admits he sees the twilight of his career fast approaching, so rather than mount any sort of 13th hour run at glory, he’d rather stick around for his few final days and entertain fight fans with his violent sensibilities and a handful of willing adversaries willing to bite down on their mouthpieces and satisfy some bloodlust.

“That’s the thing. I’m not really interested in making another run,” Pickett acknowledged. “I just want exciting fights. So I’ve got [Almeida] as an exciting fight, but if I beat him, yeah, of course he’s a prospect, he’s ranked No. 14 in the weight class, so it’s not going to propel me into the top-10 or anything, I’m not going to be going ‘oh wow, I could get a title shot.’ So I understand. Once I win this one this weekend, I look at the next fight: which is a fight that excites me?

“I’m not worried about [the title picture].”

After spending more than a decade in the game, Pickett concedes it’s a bit bizarre to see himself playing the role of spoiler, tasked with stopping the hype train of a young buck. It’s a role he’s more than happy to play, though he’s not exactly naïve to the dire straits a third consecutive loss could put him in.

“It is (strange), because I’d always want to compete at the highest levels. In my eyes, when the UFC are done with me, probably I’ll pack up my gloves and that’s it,” Pickett said. “I don’t have desire to go out of UFC and try to get back in. No. Once the UFC is done, I think I’m done.

“But for me, obviously, I love my job. I love what I do, so I’m going to try to hang onto this as long as I possibly can. I know age is a concern for people, but for me age is just a number. It’s how your body feels, and I feel good.”

LAS VEGAS — The biggest underdog of UFC 189 may surprise you. While Brad Pickett had an admittedly rough detour at flyweight, the longtime stalwart of the bantamweight division’s top-10 figured a return home to his natural weight class would at least earn him a little more respect. That’s not the case though, and Pickett is baffled to see oddsmakers pin him as high as a 10-to-1 underdog against undefeated Brazilian prospect Thomas Almeida ahead of the pair’s main card match-up.

“It’s crazy,” Pickett told MMAFighting.com on Thursday. “It’s not exactly like I don’t punch hard and I’m not a well-rounded fighter. I was ranked No. 5 at bantamweight before I went down to flyweight.

“I think [people are writing me off]. Obviously. Everyone is seeing an 19-0 guy who’s finished like 14 fights. Of course he got a little bit of a hype train. So for me, last time I fought an undefeated prospect was Demetrious Johnson, and I beat him. Demetrious Johnson has gone on to do great things, so I think Thomas Almeida is young and he will go on the do great things. But I think it’s my time to humble him and give him a learning curve.”

Now that it’s behind him, Pickett admits his journey down to flyweight was little more than a “failed experiment.” The 36-year-old hopped divisions in the hopes that his 2010 win over Johnson would earn him a quick road to the 125-pound title, but the weight proved difficult to adapt to. After winning a decision over Neil Seery in his debut, Pickett looked sluggish in losing back-to-back fights over Ian McCall and Chico Camus, ultimately heading back up to 135 with a sour taste in his mouth from a style he found all too prevalent in the UFC’s lightest men’s division.

“At that weight class — no disrespect because some people do — but a lot of people don’t hit hard enough to finish people,” Pickett said. “You don’t see a lot of finishes at flyweight like you do with the heavyweight weights. It’s all about hitting and running, hitting and running. Hit and don’t get hit. It’s a point scoring system. How can you outpoint that guy in that round? For me, I just want to get involved in a fight. I don’t want to be chasing someone around the cage. Strike, then it’s ‘oh, come on.’ I’m getting peppered [while I’m chasing them], and not to sound disrespectful, but I never thought in a zillion years that any of them could knock me out with that little pit-pat.

“So that’s why I’d like to go back up a weight class and fight guys who would stand in front of me a little bit more and play my game. I don’t mind being the smaller guy this time. And like I said, the first opponent I got is Thomas Almeida, and he’s a guy who’s going to stand right in front of me, I’m not going to find it hard to hit him, and we’re going to throw down.”

If Pickett was looking for a dance partner who’d throw down with him, he definitely found his huckleberry in Almeida. The 23-year-old Brazilian has crafted a striking game within the famed walls of Chute Boxe Academy that well exceeds his years, and despite just fighting twice inside the UFC, Almeida has already developed a reputation as one of the most feared prospects to rise out of 135 in quite some time.

It’s a perfect storm for the perennially brawl-minded Pickett, and exactly the time of fight he’s looking for at this point in his career.

All five of Pickett’s most recent losses came against top-15 ranked foes, with four of them — McCall, Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland, and Renan Barao — coming against men ranked in their division’s respective top-6. So any rumblings of his demise may be premature considering that kind of strength of schedule.

But Pickett is more honest than most fighters. He admits he sees the twilight of his career fast approaching, so rather than mount any sort of 13th hour run at glory, he’d rather stick around for his few final days and entertain fight fans with his violent sensibilities and a handful of willing adversaries willing to bite down on their mouthpieces and satisfy some bloodlust.

“That’s the thing. I’m not really interested in making another run,” Pickett acknowledged. “I just want exciting fights. So I’ve got [Almeida] as an exciting fight, but if I beat him, yeah, of course he’s a prospect, he’s ranked No. 14 in the weight class, so it’s not going to propel me into the top-10 or anything, I’m not going to be going ‘oh wow, I could get a title shot.’ So I understand. Once I win this one this weekend, I look at the next fight: which is a fight that excites me?

“I’m not worried about [the title picture].”

After spending more than a decade in the game, Pickett concedes it’s a bit bizarre to see himself playing the role of spoiler, tasked with stopping the hype train of a young buck. It’s a role he’s more than happy to play, though he’s not exactly naïve to the dire straits a third consecutive loss could put him in.

“It is (strange), because I’d always want to compete at the highest levels. In my eyes, when the UFC are done with me, probably I’ll pack up my gloves and that’s it,” Pickett said. “I don’t have desire to go out of UFC and try to get back in. No. Once the UFC is done, I think I’m done.

“But for me, obviously, I love my job. I love what I do, so I’m going to try to hang onto this as long as I possibly can. I know age is a concern for people, but for me age is just a number. It’s how your body feels, and I feel good.”