UFC Sacramento: Urijah Faber Gets Hometown Fight Against Brad Pickett
UFC Sacramento was not going to be complete until the card added the town’s MMA legend Urijah Faber. Now he is on the card against Brad Pickett.
The UFC officially announced the contest on their website.
In what could be a retirement fight for both combatants, veterans Urijah Faber and Brad Pickett will do battle on December 17. Each man is reaching the end of their long journeys, with Pickett winning just two of his last seven contests, and Faber winning one of his last four.
Urijah Faber is undoubtedly a legend of the sport, dominating the featherweight division in the early 2000s. Faber’s five defenses of his WEC title is are the most in the promotion’s history. Unfortunately, his final title defense in 2008 was the last time “The California Kid” would hold a belt, despite receiving six title shots since then.
Since entering the Octagon, Faber has gained a reputation of dominance in non-title fights, with a 9-2 record when the belt is not on the line. The Sacramento native has an incredible 19 submissions in his 13-year career along with seven knockouts.
Brad Pickett’s power has granted him the nickname “One Punch,” but most of his victories are by way of submission. The Brit was 3-1 in the WEC with a win over current flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson, and 20-5 overall prior to joining the UFC.
Success has been tough to find for Pickett in the Octagon however. The London native is 5-7 with the UFC, but is always in exciting contests. He has earned five “Fight of the Night” bonuses and one “Knockout of the Night” under Zuffa.
Also added to the card was a lightweight bout between Team Alpha Male’s Josh Emmett and Scott “Hot Sauce” Holtzman, as well as a welterweight fight between Sultan Aliev and Bojan Velickovic.
Josh Emmett made his promotional debut in May on short notice against Jon Tuck and impressed with his striking over three rounds, suffering from a nasty finger injury in the process. Emmett is undefeated at 10-0 with five stoppages.
Scott Holtzman is also a 10-fight veteran, but dropped one close decision in the Octagon to Drew Dober. Aside from that, Holtzman’s record is unblemished including two Octagon victories and five stoppages.
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Sultan Aliev is a Sambo gold medalist who carried a 13-1 record and 10 knockouts into his promotional debut. In that debut, Aliev was knocked out quickly by Kenny Robertson. He has not fought since, most recently pulling out of an August bout with Hyun-Gyu Lim.
Bojan “Serbian Steel” Velickovic was 13-3 going into his UFC debut, which Velickovic won via hard-fought decision over Alessio Di Chirico in April. Velickovic’s next bout was another hard-fought decision, but the judges ruled the contest between him and Michael Graves an even draw.
UFC on FOX 22 takes place on December 17 from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Fan-friendly strawweights Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson headline the card, while a highly anticipated contest between Sage Northcutt and Mickey Gall will also occur that night.
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