Pickett has no hesitation admitting that he suffered from a serious case of “Octagon Jitters” when he faced off with Nchukwi last December.
Though the term gets bandied about, it’s one of those ethereal things that anyone that has never experienced even a modicum of the energy, pressure, nerves that come with being on the cusp of fulfilling a goal you’ve been chasing for years, maybe decades, can truly comprehend.
The whole way along, you think you’re ready — you know you’re ready — because you’ve done all of this before — the weigh-ins, warming up in the back, getting ready for a fight.
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But then it’s time to walk out, and your music hits, and there are cameras everywhere, and referees and officials you’ve seen on television, and it’s the UFC, and Bruce Buffer or Joe Martinez is reading out your information and there is a mountain of a man pacing back and forth less than 30 feet away from you, waiting for the opportunity to take your head off and put you on his highlight reel, and it all hits you at once.
“All of a sudden you see the cameras in there, everyone is watching you, and you’re thinking, ‘I’m on national television. Oh my God,’” the honest and forthright middleweight said with a laugh. “It’s a lot.”
Against Wright, he made mistakes, and the talented finisher made him pay.
