Jamie Pickett explains why UFC contract-earning third appearance on DWCS was different

LAS VEGAS – The third time was the charm for Jamie Pickett, who finally punched his UFC ticket Tuesday night.

Pickett (11-4) stopped Jhonoven Pati in Round 2 of their Dana White’s Contender Series 30 fight, earning his first win on the show after losing to Charles Byrd and Puna Soriano in his previous two attempts.

For Pickett, his first two opportunities weren’t under the most ideal circumstances, but he made sure that he fully capitalized on his third. After almost securing a submission in Round 1, Pickett came out like a bat out of hell in the second and unleashed a barrage of punches to stop Pati just 33 seconds in.

“Three times. I did the best I could this time,” Pickett told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after his win at the UFC Apex. “I trained as hard as I could. The first time, it was like on two days’ notice, so I didn’t really train, just tried to cut weight. The second time, I just came off driving a truck and tried to get in shape, and I got in shape kinda, but Puna was just so good. It was hard to prepare for him that quick, which Puna was probably the coolest fighter I ever fought was him.”

Pickett, who works as a truck driver to help provide for his family, admits that he hasn’t been able to fully focus on fighting. His long hours at work have hampered his training and diet, but he vows that, if he puts it all together, the results will follow.

“Now I’m a UFC fighter. I mean, I’m training all the time, but you have to understand I got a daughter, and I got a house. I got a mortgage. I got a lot of stuff to pay,” Pickett said. “So how I do that is driving trucks. When you’re driving trucks all day long, I only get to train one time a day. I’m eating at all these fast food places, and I ain’t really training, so my body is just going down, and when it’s time to fight, I gotta get back in shape. And these guys fighting, they train all the time. So I go to fight them, I’m not really in shape. So if I’m in shape all the time, I’m a problem for anybody.”