LAS VEGAS – Josh Fremd knows Jamie Pickett won’t be an easy outing, but will look to overwhelm him.
Fremd (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) meets Pickett (13-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 51 main card opener at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
With Pickett having dropped three straight, Fremd is expecting a sense of urgency from him, but will look to put him away.
“I think that he’s a very explosive, athletic, tough fighter,” Fremd told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Thursday’s media day. “I think he’s very similar to the last guy I fought, (Sedrique Dumas) – just a better version of him, if you will. I think he’s going to be tougher a little bit, but I think I can break him. … I do see a finish.”
Fremd was just in a similar situation to Pickett in the lead-up to his past fight against Sedriques Dumas in March. But the LFA alum remained level headed, and not only was he able to snap a two-fight losing skid, but he also handed Dumas his first-career loss when he submitted in Round 2.
“Honestly, I know it’s hard to believe, but there was no pressure,” Fremd said. “I knew where I stood. I know where I stand. I just knew that I needed to go out there and fight. At the end of the day, it’s a fight. All this extra cameras and microphones and all that, it’s just extra to it. This is a fight, and I just needed to go out there and fight.
“That’s what I told my coach about this fight here. I’m in the same predicament. I just need to go out there and fight. There is no pressure because if I felt the pressure, that means I didn’t do the right things in camp, I didn’t do the right things to prepare myself. So I’m prepared. Even though it was short notice, I was prepared. It is what it is.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
