Bradd Pickett
The Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion is headed back to the United Kingdom since it’s last visit in November of last year with UFC 138.
This time the UFC is headed to the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England for UFC on FUEL TV 5 which will take place on Saturday, September 29, 2012. This will be the first time that the UFC has visited Nottingham.
The event already has it’s first two matchups with a bantamweight fight between Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett (21-6) vs. Yves ‘Tiger’ Jabouin (16-7), as well as a featherweight matchup between two former “TUF” cast members as Andy ‘The Little Axe’ Ogle (8-1) and Sweden’s Akira Corassani (9-3) make their Octagon debuts against one another.
“We are very excited to be going to Nottingham for the first time,” commented UFC Managing Director of International Business, Marshall Zelaznik. “Some of the biggest names in British mixed martial arts are from Nottingham and the fans have been campaigning for us to bring a fight here for years. The UK fans are among the most passionate UFC supporters on Earth and this is going to be a special night.”
Tickets for UFC Nottingham will go on sale to the public beginning June 14, 2012 ranging in price from £75 to £225.
Pickett, who was born in London but in the USA with the American Top Team gym, is currently 1-1 with the UFC having earned his first victory inside the Octagon in April. At the UFC Sweden event, ‘One Punch’ stopped Damacio Page with a rear-naked choke submission earning his third “Fight of the Night” bonus in four bouts.
Jabouin has three straight wins under his belt since moving to bantamweight. He earned a decision victory against Jeff Hougland At UFC on FUEL TV 3 in his last fight, as well as earning split decisions versus Walel Watson and Ian Loveland at UFC 140 and UFC 134 respectively.
Ogle will be another English fighter who gets a chance to fight in front of his fellow countrymen this September. ‘The Little Axe’ appeared on this past season of “The Ultimate Fighter” competing as a member of Team Faber on the reality series. He did not appear at the shows Finale due to a medical suspension suffered after his KO loss to Al Iaquinta in the shows quarter-finals.
Corassani appeared on season fourteen of “TUF” and was selected to be a part of Team Bisping on the show. He failed to make it past the semi-final round but was still signed by the UFC. He failed to debut at the shows Finale due to a injury. He was then scheduled to debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 but was also forced off that card with an injury.