Brad “One Punch” Pickett was one of the original pioneers for mixed martial arts in the United Kingdom, and has been on the scene for as long as most UK MMA fans can remember. Pickett made his professional MMA debut in 2004 and his UFC debut in 2011. He is bidding his final farewell to MMA with one last fight, as he takes on Henry Briones. This fight has been scheduled three times before but hasn’t came to fruition.
Pickett announced the news of the fight on his Facebook page.
Pickett (25-13 MMA, 5-8 UFC) had fought 25-times before even making his UFC debut, and had amassed a record of 20-5. The Englishman made his UFC debut at UFC 138, but was submitted by Renan Barao. He rebounded with two wins, a submission over Damacio Page and a violent knockout over Yves Jabouin. Pickett’s next fight was a loss, though, as he dropped a split decision to Eddie Wineland. “One Punch” rebounded by defeating Mike Easton before losing to Michael Johnson. The loss was followed by a win over Neil Seery in Pickett’s flyweight debut. Pickett lost decisions to Ian McCall and Chico Camus before being knocked out for the first time in his UFC career, losing to Thomas Almeida. The 38-year-old snapped the three fight skid by taking a split decision over Francisco Rivera at UFC London in February of 2016. Pickett is currently on a two fight skid, having lost his last two fights to Iuri Alcantara and Urijah Faber respectively.
Briones (16-6-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter Latin America Season 1, but was eliminated by Marlon Vera. He was given a chance in the UFC and faced now champion Cody Garbrandt at UFC 189. The Mexican became the first fighter to go three rounds with Gabrandt, eventually losing a decision. Briones was then scheduled to face Brad Pickett at UFC Fight Night 84, but pulled out due to injury. The fight was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 93, but again Briones was forced to pull out due to injury. The 36-year-old then faced Douglas Silva de Andrade, but lost the bout via TKO in the third round.
UFC Fight Night 107 takes place live from the 02 Arena in London, England on March 18th, 2017.
