411 MMA Interviews: WEC's Brad Pickett
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 05.24.2010
The WEC Bantamweight checks in with 411mania.com for an exclusive interview. Brad talks training with Mike Brown, successfully debuting in the WEC, and much more.
WEC fighter and bantamweight, Brad Pickett (19-4 MMA; 2-0 WEC), has come onto the American scene and has quickly made an impressive show of his skills in just a few short months. A London, England native, Pickett has recently made the move to live and train in the US full time at American Top Team. Pickett's also coming off his second straight win in the WEC against Demetrious Johnson, a preliminary fight from the WEC 48 card that ended up being shown on the event's PPV broadcast. Earlier this month, the former Cage Rage Featherweight Champion Brad Pickett, while healing from a shoulder injury from the fight with Johnson, granted 411mania.com an exclusive interview:
Jeffrey Harris: So how are you feeling after winning your second fight in the WEC and how are you healing up?
Brad Pickett: I'm feeling good at the moment, obviously really excited coming off of a win, my second win in the WEC. I had a little bit of a setback; I separated my shoulder in my fight, but nothing too long-term. I believe it's healing up quite well as we speak. It's feeling a lot better so hopefully I'll be back training. I'm still running and stuff, even that gives me a bit of trouble but I'll be back training hopefully in a couple of weeks.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you remember when in the fight you injured your shoulder?
Brad Pickett: Yeah, if you watch the fight back it's very clear. I actually injured it on the last slam at the end of the second round.
Jeffrey Harris: How hurt were you and what were you feeling going into that third round?
Brad Pickett: I went back to the corner and I didn't feel the pain or anything or nothing like that, obviously my adrenaline still going and stuff. When I went out to the third round I could feel it really badly.
Jeffrey Harris: You've come in and made a very good statement winning two straight. The bantamweight division in the WEC is very competitive; you've got some of the best at 135 in the world there. But now I'd say you are definitely in the mix, would you agree?
Brad Pickett: I'd like to think so. Obviously I've been fighting in the sport for some time now. Obviously, I've fought at 145, this was only my second fight at 135. I've only fought at 135 for the WEC which I believe is a much better weight class for myself. I feel stronger at that weight and there are a lot of talented guys. The best 135'ers in the world are in the WEC, and I believe on my night I can beat any of these guys. But obviously with a bit of luck and stuff like that and training well and the right sort of camp and the right sort of game-plan, I believe I could actually hold my own with anyone in that weight class. So hopefully if I keep winning I can work my way up the ladder.
Jeffrey Harris: I was there live at WEC 45 for your fight with Kyle Dietz where you pulled off that amazing Peruvian Necktie. I then got to meet and speak with you and Mike Brown after the fight in the food court at the Palms. You were both eating some McDonald's, was that your sort of celebratory meal, "man I just won my first fight in the WEC. I'm going to have some Mickie D's!"
Brad Pickett: Yeah and we done exactly the same after this fight. I had some McDonald's. I've been eating pretty much a lot of junk. At one point I got myself up to 167.
Jeffrey Harris: Hey, you did your work and you won, I think you got to reward yourself sometimes with some junk food, you know?
Brad Pickett: Yeah exactly.
Jeffrey Harris: In the Kyle Dietz, he came out and he was striking pretty wildly. You were able to get him on the ground and control him before that submission. How did you see that submission?
Brad Pickett: I just seem to get in the front headlock position quite a bit and I use it on people in the gym, so you hit things on people in the gym and you hit them on good caliber fighters in the gym, you believe in the move. So for me, I know it's quite a rare move, but I don't see why it's so rare because I find it very effective you know. So people have different moves. Obviously people have their own moves they go to, and to be honest that's one of mine because when I get into that position I believe I've got a good one and that's how I finish most people.
Jeffrey Harris: I was very impressed with the Dietz fight because he would come out swinging pretty hard and then you would resume control of him. How did you feel during that fight?
Brad Pickett: To be honest with you, in a fight, I never get phased or anything. If you get hit with a really hard shot, you get dropped; you still don't actually feel it. Your legs just give way. I just don't feel anything in that regard. I never fear anyone standing up . . . I'm a complete fighter. I just take the fight where it goes. If you see my fight with Kyle Dietz, I didn't actually take him down once. He just threw kicks and I caught his kicks and punches and then he fell down and I ended up on top. I don't actually specifically look for taking people down. Even in my last fight which you saw yet again, when I was fighting Demetrious Johnson, I didn't shoot one double. It was more of a case of him kind of rushing into me and me just changing my level and taking him down. I didn't want to look into taking him down. He just gave it to me. I fight instinctively. I fight for every moment. I go in there and take every opportunity that comes. I fight for every moment.
Jeffrey Harris: Being a British fighter, a lot of people in the MMA community are critical of British fighters for not having good wrestling and takedown defense. But going by what you are saying you don't really look for the takedowns but when you get the opportunity you get guys down and control them on the ground. All that said I'm quite impressed with the way you seem to assert your will and control over guys you've fought so far. And I guess I'm curious what your opinion on that is.
Brad Pickett: I believe a lot of that is from my best friend and main training partner is Mike Brown. And I mimic his style quite a lot. I like his style. I think he's got the current foreknew of fighting MMA. You've got to be on top, be the dominant person, and impose your will. That's the kind of fighter I've molded myself into. And obviously I've never wrestled but I've trained in MMA for 5 years including wrestling and I've trained with the best guys in the world at American Top Team. So if you are good at sports which I have been all my life, I've always been good with sport. Every sport I've done ever since I was a kid. I used to play high level football. I used to play cricket. I used to play all the sports like at state level in England. So I was good with sports. So naturally, someone shows you the sport you are going to pick it up. And so I actually started wrestling. I wouldn't say if I were to have a wrestling match with someone, I won't be a high level wrestler, but MMA is a lot different you know.
Jeffrey Harris: What's the transition been like for you moving to the US and making a successful debut in the WEC where you are now 2-0 in the organization? Your last fight, you were on the prelims, but your fight ended up making the PPV on a card with names like Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Donald Cerrone, Ben Henderson, and Mike Brown all fighting on the same card. What was that like for you getting on this PPV card and your fight getting shown?
Brad Pickett: It was a great honor to be part of that card. Obviously I wasn't on the main card but it ended up being shown on the PPV which is brilliant exposure for myself. I'm at the moment just happy being part of the WEC. And they've got my future in their hands and I trust them, and it was a great night to be a part of that card and also to be on the same card as Mike Brown because we're really good friends and it's easy when we're both training together. It would suck if I have to fight and he has to fight a couple months later. I'll have my fight and then I'll have to train again to get Mike Brown ready which I would do but it's real handy when we're both fighting on the same card.
Jeffrey Harris: I understand you and Mike are very close. I remember reading that the two of you are roommates now. I understand if you cannot comment on this, but there was some controversy coming out of Mike Brown's loss to Manny Gamburyan at WEC 48, that Brown had skipped 12 days of his training camp and he was going through some rough emotional times. Mike Brown of course made no excuses and he just said he got hit really hard by Gamburyan. Do you have any comment on that?
Brad Pickett: It's not really my place to comment on that. But I would say it's pretty far-fetched what was just Chinese whispers. So I won't really comment on that because it's completely wrong. But Mike Brown, yeah he's making no excuses. He got caught with a big shot that would've knocked out guys. It happens. It's part of the sport. The sport is very unforgiving sometimes. Like you said, he got knocked down. He got caught . . . at this level, one mistake could be the end of the night which it was for Brown. And there's been times where he's on the other end of that. When he knocked out Urijah Faber, it was the same sort of deal. You win some. You lose some. You are fighting these guys and you don't make excuses. Your training camp has nothing to do with that. He just threw a punch, missed. Manny threw a punch right on the button. He got knocked out. He could've done the same thing to Manny Gamburyan. If Mike Brown had knocked out Manny Gamburyan, there'd be no question about, "Oh was it his personal life? Anything to do with it?" And all that sort of stuff. You could make more of a comment on that then you do with a 3 round fight and he's fatigued or something like that and then you say, "Oh he gassed out. So maybe his training camp wasn't so good." You can't question getting knocked or caught on the chin because that would knock out most guys.
Jeffrey Harris: How has it been now living and training in the US? Do you miss England a lot?
Brad Pickett: I've been over to America a lot over the last few years and I've always trained out here and then after my fights I used to go back home and stuff. Instead of being that guy at the gym who would come to the gym, get ready for my fight, and disappear for when everyone else is getting ready for their fight; I wanted to be here for my teammates as well. And also when you are not training for a fight, you learn more. When you're out here training for a fight, what you end up doing is concentrating a lot on getting ready for a fight, sparring, and you don't have a lot of time to sit down and learn a lot of new stuff. You learn and pick stuff up obviously but you can't go and just put on a gi and concentrate on jiu-jitsu and practice it and practice your wrestling. You're getting ready for the fight. So now, it won't imperative for me to start training and learning other stuff but unfortunately I've got a bit of an injury.
So now it's like the first time I've ever been out here when I'm not fighting which at the moment is fine. I do have a long-term girlfriend back home in England. We've been going out with each other for like 4 and a half years which can be tough at times, but she's coming out here at the end of this week. She's going to stay for the time with me. I'm looking forward to that and yeah we'll see how it goes. I always want to make the most out of what I can because I don't have any children. I don't have a mortgage back home. No ties. And there's a opportunity Mike Brown gave me to come live with him and I'd only be a fool to miss up on the opportunity. You don't want to look back. I never want to look back when I'm older and think man maybe I could've gone further in the WEC if I'd moved to America and really concentrated on my training because obviously it's the best place to be. I don't want any regrets in the back of my mind, maybe I should've gone out there. I'm not a young buck anymore. I'm getting on a bit, I'm 31. So I ain't got long left so I've got to make the best go of it you know.
Jeffrey Harris: I hope when your lady comes out here you can take her out to In N Out Burger unless she's a vegetarian or something like that.
Brad Pickett: No she's not a vegetarian. I'm going to take her to Disneyland. We're going to Disneyland.
Jeffrey Harris: You showed a great deal of respect for Demetrious Johnson. I saw you posted a note on his Facebook after the fight. I'm very impressed with the professionalism you and Johnson show for each other. What did you think of Johnson during your fight?
Brad Pickett: He's going to be a really good fighter in my eyes. I just out-manned him in a way. Technically, he's a very good fighter and you can see he's going to do really well I believe. I believe he's just a little too small for that weight. If there's a 125 lb. division . . . he can do really well. I think he's a good talent. And in the sport, in anything, it's not just the sport, you have a lot of respect for each other and there are a lot of good guys in the sport. But also the same as anything, there's a lot of douche bags in the sport as well. I'm a nice guy, and if I'm fighting someone, I'm fighting someone. There's no love-loss. It's just part of my job. Same thing as when you can go into work, when you go into work there's some people you get on with and there are some people you don't. It's actually a bit different because we're punching each other in the face, but like I say, it's only part of the job.
Jeffrey Harris: With your athletic background, how did you transition to MMA?
Brad Pickett: Basically I used to play semi-pro soccer. I used to get paid to play. And we would train like a few days a week. And in the off days when I didn't train football I wanted to keep myself fit, so I went and took up boxing. I took up boxing and I ended up boxing for a bit and a few months a man says to me, "Hey do you fancy to having a fight?" Being a proud person I was, I said, "Yeah, no worries. I'll give it a go." And then I started boxing and doing really well. Boxing, I was knocking people out with 10 oz. gloves and head gear I was like wow this is good. So I was doing both. And then I ended up having a real bad knee injury playing football. I ruptured my crucial ligament in my knee and it kind of like stopped my sports for a couple of years. And as football being my main love, I got back into football and quit boxing . . . and then I wanted to get back into boxing, went back into boxing, kind of a bit boring. Same old stuff. So one of my mates said to me, why don't I try MMA. And I was like yeah OK, I'll give it a go. And I tried MMA and I never looked back since. I fell in love with it.
Jeffrey Harris: For your next fight, it's probably a little while away, but how would you feel about a fight with former WEC bantamweight title contender, Takeya Mizugaki?
Brad Pickett: For me, that'd be a perfect match-up. I'd love to fight Mizugaki, but I don't think that fight will happen. He's had one loss recently and he just got back and had a win. I'd like that fight, but I think it will probably be someone coming off a couple of wins or on a bit of a streak. I'm not too sure. But I love that fight. I'd fight anyone in that weight class to be honest. You can't pick and choose your fights when you get to this level. It's up to the WEC.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you have any people or sponsors you would like to thank?
Brad Pickett: Yeah I would love to thank my sponsors for my last fight: Jacko. I was also sponsored by Tri-Coasta. I'd also like to thank LoveMMA.Co.UK. And all my training partners at American Top Team and all my training partners back home at Team Titan.
Jeffrey Harris: Thanks so much for your time Brad. Congrats on your win and good luck with your next fight. I hope you and your lady have a nice vacay.
Brad Pickett: Thanks a lot.
Many thanks to Brad Pickett for granting us this interview. Remember you can bookmark 411mania.com to your favorite places to get all the latest and greatest news on the WEC and MMA. Also you can:
