Brad Pickett defeats Mike Easton by Split Decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
by Scott Cumming - @tummidge
Pickett takes decision win in Fight of the Night vs. Easton
This fight had the most relevance in terms of rankings at Saturday's event and this was evident in how the fight went down. It was a brilliant spectacle of technical and competitive MMA that was there to be admired. It was also a fight that left you feeling sorry for judges - just a tiny bit.
Brad Pickett and Mike Easton are top 10 ranked bantamweights and the winner of this would surely keep themself in title contention as both looked to rebound from decision losses in their last fights. The first two rounds followed a similar pattern as both fighters traded punches, kicks and takedowns with neither fighter stepping off. In the final seconds of round two it descended into a brawl too as both fighters looked to land the significant strike that would sway the fight in their favour. At that point it was anyone's fight.
In round three, Pickett definitively picked up the round by displaying a wrestling game that is not often associated with British fighters as he managed to reverse an Easton takedown and hold him down for a fair portion of the round getting into a decent half guard and landing some punishing ground and pound. Things got crazy in the last few seconds of this round too, but neither fighter did telling damage.
The internet scoring was all over the place with this one and I felt Easton might have done enough to pick up the victory, but Bruce Buffer announced a split decision win for Pickett, who keeps himself in the top half of the bantamweight rankings and will get another big fight next time out as he looks for a title shot in the division. Even in defeat this was the best we have seen from Mike Easton, but he stands on rocky ground after two consecutive defeats and will need to pick up a W next time out.
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