Brad Pickett Drops to Flyweight, Faces Ian McCall at UFC London; Two Other Bouts Announced

The UFC London fight card slated for March 8 at the O2 Arena is filling up fast. UFC officials on Tuesday added three more bouts to the line-up.

Chief among the new bouts announced is the flyweight debut of one of Britain’s most popular fighters, Brad Pickett, as he matches up with Ian McCall.

Pickett (23-8) is always an exciting fighter. He’s got five Fight of the Night honors, as well as one Submission of the Night and one Knockout of the Night to his credit under the Zuffa banner. He’s run into something of a brick wall at bantamweight though.

Pickett is 6-4 during combined WEC and UFC tenures at 135 pounds. He has been tripped up by the best the division has to offer: Scott Jorgensen, Renan Barão, Eddie Wineland, and Michael McDonald. That, of course, means he is highly competitive, but it is also a stumbling block towards his end-goal of becoming a UFC champion.

Thus the move to 125 pounds, where he will try to make a run at the belt currently wrapped around Demtrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson’s waist.

McCall (12-4-1) has his own roadblocks to the belt. Entering the UFC as part of the promotion’s inaugural flyweight championship tournament, he has a draw and a loss to Johnson already on his resume, as well as a loss to Joseph Benavidez, the current No. 1 contender.

McCall does, however, have a recent victory over Iliarde Santos. So adding a victory over Pickett to his record would advance him far along the road to another title shot, especially if Benavidez is able to take the belt from Johnson at UFC on Fox 9.

The two other bouts added to UFC Fight Night 37 on Tuesday include undefeated Icelandic fighter Gunnar Nelson (11-0-1) vs. Russia’s Omari Akhmedov (12-1), and Englishman Danny Mitchell (14-4-1) vs. Brazilian Igor Araujo (24-6-1).

A five-round, light heavyweight, non-title fight between Alexander Gustafsson and Jimi Manuwa headlines UFC London.

(Photo courtesy of Lee Whitehead)