Retiring Brad Pickett on head-kick KO loss: 'The younger me would've chewed that up'

The good news is that Brad Pickett is comfortable in his decision to retire from MMA. The bad news is that it took a swift kick upside his head to prove it was the right one.

On Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 107 main card, Pickett had his pre-announced retirement fight, and it took place in front of a boisterous hometown crowd at The O2 in London.

And at least initially, everything was going swimmingly.

Pickett slugged it out with late replacement Marlon Vera, and the veteran bantamweight had the edge on the scorecards going into the third round of the 140-pound catchweight fight. But then Vera (9-3-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) blasted Pickett (25-14 MMA, 5-9 UFC) with a stiff head kick and follow-up punches, and a joyous fight week – one that honored Pickett’s 13 years in the sport and his seven-plus-year run in the UFC and WEC.

Th sour endnote didn’t alter Pickett’s retirement plans; in an emotional post-fight interview, 38-year-old “One Punch” said his goodbyes, he thanked his loyal English fan base, and he gently placed his trademark trilby in the center of the octagon.

Following the bittersweet end to his career – one that included seven UFC and WEC fight-night bonuses, titles with Cage Rage and Ultimate Challenge MMA, and a 2010 decision victory over MMA’s current pound-for-pound king, Demetrious Johnson – Pickett said the nature of the loss was the reassurance he needed that it was time to call it quits.

“I was winning the fight for 14 minutes, and then I got a head kick where, to be honest, the younger me would have chewed that up and carried on going,” Pickett said. “It’s definitely the right decision (to retire).

“Obviously, it’s not the fairytale ending that myself and probably everyone else wanted.”

Pickett said he was disappointed that he couldn’t send London’s fight fans home happy, but he was complimentary toward Vera, who gave his own touching tribute to Pickett during their in-cage post-fight interviews.

While Pickett possibly could’ve employed a safe and less-risky style late in the fight – one that would have increased his chances of a victory – he said that’s never been much of a motivating factor in his career.

“It’s me – my fighting style,” he said. “I live by the sword, die by the sword. I say I fight for the fans.

” … I did have some trouble taking him down when I went for a takedown, but I could have just taken him down and laid on him and made it boring. But for me, I wanted to be in a typical Brad Pickett fight. And in a typical Brad Pickett fight, it’s would’ve been me getting up and carrying on fighting.”

Pickett ends his career on a 1-6 skid since 2014. In early 2016, he picked up a split-decision victory over Francisco Rivera, and he could’ve retired off the victory and closed out his career on a win. But back then, he said any observer could’ve seen the joy on his face – the relief of a long-awaited win – and his determination that he would keep going.

But on Saturday night – in front of a hometown crowd with weeks or tributes and retrospectives and countless interviews – the time was right. The ending left something to be desired, but as Pickett has learned as one of England’s MMA trailblazers and one of the sport’s biggest fan favorites, things can be unpredictable in the hurt business.

“You can tell, this is real life – this isn’t always fairytales,” he said.

For more on UFC Fight Night 107, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.