“We knew we were neck-and-neck for the next title shot and we said, “It doesn’t matter who gets it. One of us will fight Dominick (Cruz) and then we’ll fight each other for the belt.’”
A few months back Scott Jorgensen and Joseph Benavidez, two buddies who compete in the same division, made a pact:
“We knew we were neck-and-neck for the next title shot and we said, “It doesn’t matter who gets it. One of us will fight Dominick (Cruz) and then we’ll fight each other for the belt.’”
That is Scott “Young Guns” Jorgensen talking. The bantamweight contender out of Boise, Idaho has learned to accept that it is Benavidez – not him – who will get the first crack at WEC champion Dominick Cruz at WEC 50 this Wednesday. Jorgensen, meanwhile, had to settle for a clash against tough-as-nails Brad Pickett, who has prevailed in nine straight fights dating back to 2007. The bout could have title shot implications, but Jorgensen refuses to let his hopes get too high.
“I’m not looking at anything beyond Wednesday night,” Jorgensen said. “It really doesn’t matter to me. My name has been mentioned as a title contender a couple of times – and I was thinking I had earned a title shot and it never comes through. So now I’m just going to take care of business one fight at a time and everything will fall in line.”
Brad “One Punch” Pickett will do everything in his power to foil Jorgensen’s master plan. Although two of his WEC fights have been televised in the United States, Pickett considers main card vet Jorgensen to have a bigger name than him. But the 32-year-old Brit believes he can change that with a stellar performance on Wednesday.
“There’s more pressure on him,” said Pickett, who trains with American Top Team in Florida and is close friends with former WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown. “He’s the one shouting out that he deserves a title shot, he’s ranked higher than me in the world rankings, so I have nothing to lose in this fight … He’s going to have to knock me out or lay me unconscious because I’m not going to lay over and die for anybody. And that’s the same mentality he has. We’re both very durable characters and tough and unless one of us makes a mistake – I believe it’s going to be a three-round, exciting fight.”
Looking sensational in his last fight, Pickett devoured and punished previously-unbeaten Demetrious Johnson en route to a unanimous decision win. Johnson had been a state champion wrestler in high school yet Pickett outwrestled him, slamming Johnson hard to the canvas on several occasions. Jorgensen’s pedigree, before jumping into MMA, was that of a decorated Division I wrestler. He insists Pickett won’t be slamming anybody this time around.
“I don’t get ragdolled, man, I ragdoll people,” Jorgensen said. “I’m a wrestler and I’ve never been pushed around in my life in a fight or a wrestling match and certainly not Wednesday night. Brad Pickett has got a rude awakening if he thinks he’s going to throw me around and bully me. That’s never happened a day in my life and it’s certainly not going to start now.”
Asked what he must do to win, Jorgensen said he cannot afford to get caught up in Pickett’s “wild game” and will impose a fast pace on the man he respectfully referred to as “a hard-nosed kid” (even though Jorgensen happens to be four years younger than the “kid”).
“I can’t wait on Brad to do what he wants and then counter him,” Jorgensen said. “It’s got to be an offensive game. That’s what has been working for me lately. Everywhere he’s good at I’m better. He’s a tough kid but he’s not where I’m at. He’s never fought anyone of my caliber or an opponent like me. I’d prefer to fight for 15 minutes because if it goes 15 minutes I’m going to have a heyday for 15 minutes. It’ll be a total domination for 15 minutes.”
Pickett, who has power in his hands and boasts nine submission victories, isn’t particularly concerned with Jorgensen’s grappling credentials, nothing that he trains with many “high-level” wrestlers and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla.
“Scott Jorgensen is obviously bigger than Demetrious Johnson but I’m still going to go out there and fight how I normally fight, which is to try and bully and beat anyone up as much as I can,” Pickett said.
By the way, just for the record, Jorgensen offered his very biased opinion on the outcome of the rematch between Cruz and Benavidez.
“Joseph is my friend and I’ve got a feeling ... I’m a firm believer that in rematches the fighter who has evolved the most will come out victorious,” Jorgensen said. “Just watching Joseph in his last few matches, my feeling is he’s more evolved and he’s hungry. I read somewhere that Joseph’s motive is not the belt. And that’s a much scarier thing for Dominick to have to deal with.