LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] knows his back is against the wall at UFC on ESPN 51.
Pickett (13-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) will look to snap a three-fight losing skid when he faces Josh Fremd (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on Saturday’s main card opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
Pickett’s most recent setback came against highly touted Bo Nickal at UFC 285 – a controversial submission loss which he later appealed. Pickett claimed he was struck below the belt by Nickal, but the referee didn’t catch it. That led to the fight-ending sequence where Nickal took him down and submitted him in Round 1. Pickett’s appeal was rejected when the Nevada State Athletic Commission saw no evidence of a low blow.
“I’m sure everybody saw it,” Pickett told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Thursday’s media day. “I mean, I don’t really b*tch about things. I don’t really say much about anything. Stuff happens. It is what it is.”
Pickett thinks he’s yet to live up to his full potential. He chalks it off to unfortunate circumstances.
“I’ll just say I took a lot of these fights short notice, or taking them right after a fight because I was asked,” Pickett said. “The Bo Nickal fight, I was trained and ready to go. Then things happened. Things just didn’t happen in my favor. I don’t blame anybody, but the UFC offered me a chance to redeem myself and I’m going to take that and run away with it.”
Pickett knows a loss will likely lead to his walking papers, so is looking to make a statement against Fremd.
“(It’s) do or die,” Pickett said. “(I have to) go out there, put hands on him, get him out of there – get him out of there fast as possible.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.