UFC Fight Night 46 results: Ian McCall cruises past Brad Pickett in 125 pecking order

DUBLIN – Brad Pickett was irked his fight against Ian McCall didn’t have immediate title implications.

But it’s McCall (13-4-1 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) who might want to gripe about that now, after he dispatched Pickett (24-9 MMA, 4-4 UFC) with relative ease in a unanimous decision win.

The flyweight bout was part of today’s UFC Fight Night 46 main card at The O2 in Dublin. The entire event streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Using a game plan that was evident early, and one he stayed with throughout, McCall stayed clear of Pickett’s power and danced, kicked and grinded his way to pair of 30-27s and a 29-28 on the scorecards. It was Pickett who had wondered why the UFC booked Chris Cariaso to challenge Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title before his fight with McCall was in the books. But now Pickett goes back into the pack, while McCall made a pretty clear case for consideration after Cariaso.

McCall danced outside, and when he threw a kick, Pickett countered with a right. Moments later, McCall again went back to the leg kick, this time much heavier as it slapped throughout the arena. Pickett tried to get inside, but McCall land a knee after letting go of a choke attempt. Ninety seconds in, they started slugging, then scrambling before briefly tying up on the fence. They went back and forth between striking range and dirty boxing on the fence, but it was McCall who appeared the quicker o the two for the moment. A late punch from Pickett landed, and perhaps gave him momentum for the second.

But 30 seconds into that frame, McCall landed a takedown. It was one Pickett was quickly back up from, only to be taken down again, and McCall quickly jumped to mount before Pickett recovered to half-guard. McCall couldn’t do any damage on the ground before Pickett was back to his feet. A big body kick from McCall landed with two minutes left before he continued to circle outside trying to stay clear of Pickett’s power. It was another solid round for McCall, being elusive and keeping Pickett from landing a home-run shot.

Pickett came out swinging in the third, but ate a body kick. McCall landed another 30 seconds later, and one more after that. Midway through the third, Pickett again tried to get started. But again, McCall landed to the body and threatened with a takedown. But it was cruise control for McCall, who called out champ Johnson after the fight.

“Demetrious – I’m coming after you,” McCall said.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 46 results include:

• Ian McCall def. Brad Pickett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Norman Parke def. Naoyuki Kotani via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:41
• Ilir Latifi def. Chris Dempsey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:07
• Neil Seery def. Phil Harris via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Cathal Pendred def. Mike King via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:33
• Trevor Smith def. Tor Troeng via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Nikita Krylov def. Cody Donovan via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:57
• Patrick Holohan def. Josh Sampo via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:06

For more on UFC Fight Night 46, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site