Brad Pickett praises Jorge Masvidal ahead of UFC London: ‘He has fighting in his DNA’

MMAfighting.com

The first thing that Jorge Masvidal did at the UFC London press conference was heap praise on his ATT teammate and former UFC fighter Brad Pickett.

“Gamebred” takes on Pickett’s countryman Darren Till in the main event of the London card this weekend, and “One Punch” admitted that he was pumped when he found out Masvidal got the nod to face “The Gorilla” as opposed to some other names that were floated in the rumor mill before the booking was made.

“People were talking about Darren Till being on this card against Colby Covington and Ben Askrenand I was like ugh…I don’t really get excited for those kind of fights…but Masvidal…f*ck. These are two fighters who want to fight. When this got booked it got me pumped,” Pickett told Eurobash.

Pickett underlined why both Till and Masvidal are his kind of fighters. He likes the fact that both men have bucked the trend of trash talking as he knows that both will go hell-for-leather once the Octagon door closes on Saturday night.

“For people who don’t know Masvidal, he’s not really the aggressive kind. He likes to get himself into fights, he’s a really technical boxer, he has really good wrestling and really good defensive wrestling,” explained Pickett.

“He started fighting on the streets of Miami with Kimbo Slice for money; backyard fights and stuff like that. He has fighting in his DNA, he just loves it; he’d fight for peanuts. He just loves fighting and I think Darren Till is from the same sort of bloodline. He’s a fighter as well and that’s why you don’t see them talking a lot of shit to each other.”

“These two are from the old school generation,” he added. “They just want to fight. Who gives a sh*t if you talk sh*t—whatever. We’re gonna fight so shut up…let’s see what happens. That’s what both guys are like, they’re both fighters and that’s why I’m excited about it.”

Although Pickett underlined his admiration for Till and Masvidal, he claims that he is pulling for his longtime teammate on Saturday night.

“As Masvidal says, ‘Real recognizes real,’ and I recognize Darren Till. I think he’s a phenomenal fighter and I really like Darren Till as a person as well. I’ve chatted to him loads of times. One of the first times I met him was in Liverpool years ago when he just signed for the UFC. I met him in a Mexican restaurant, we just chatted, we became friends and we were always chatting on social media and stuff. He’s just a down to earth dude. He’s blown up and he’s famous, but he still chats to fans—he’s a superstar but he doesn’t act like a superstar. I like him a lot,” he said.

“Obviously, Masvidal has been a teammate for years. For me, I’m not super patriotic; I’m not going to support someone just because they’re from England. I support you if you’re a nice guy. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of nice guys from England, but there are lots of dickheads from England too. There are loads of nice guys from America, but there are dickheads from America. I support nice guys so it doesn’t matter what flag [you represent].

“I like both of these guys, so it is hard for me to pick one of them. But if I’m going to honest, Jorge Masvidal is my boy, a teammate for years and a great guy, so deep down I’m pulling for him, but like I say, I love Darren Till and I’ve got a lot of respect for him too.”

Check out the latest episode of Eurobash. The Brad Pickett interview begins at 15:30.