Ian McCall: Flyweight Champ Demetrious Johnson Lacks Entertainment Value

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Ian McCall is finally set to fight Brad Pickett in Dublin on July 19, nearly four months after the two were originally scheduled to meet at UFC Fight Night “Gustafsson vs. Manuwa.”

Pickett is a 32-fight veteran who has been fighting for UFC since 2011. After competing at bantamweight for his entire career, “One Punch” debuted at flyweight with unanimous verdict over Neil Seery in March.

During a Monday appearance on the Sherdog Radio Network’s ”Beatdown” show, “Uncle Creepy” explained what he saw in Pickett’s flyweight debut and why it’s not keeping him up late at night.

“Brad’s the same fighter he’s always been; he’s not going to change it up. He didn’t look that impressive. He looked slow,” McCall said. “I know the weight cut is hard, [because] he is a good size, but I wasn’t very impressed.”

While some MMA fans might describe Pickett’s fighting style as beautiful -- the Brit has five “Fight of the Night” bonuses to his name -- when McCall caught highlights of the 35-year-old’s performance, the word “ugly” came to mind.

“MMA is just ugly, it’s not a pretty sport,” McCall said. “He is the definition of brawling: Big looping hooks -- it’s just not that pretty, and I like fluidity and I like finesse and he’s just not a finesse guy.”

McCall plans on utilizing his technical striking skills to avoid a brawl, which is a specialty of Pickett’s. If that doesn’t work, wrestling will not be a problem.

“He lost to guys at 135 [pounds] who had footwork. He’s slow and plodding,” McCall said. “When you punch him he turns into a wrestler -- which is pretty weird for an Englishman -- and I’m sorry, but I am not going to be outwrestled by an Englishman.”

With Demetrious Johnson sitting atop the division, McCall desires a third chance at defeating “Mighty Mouse.” The two fought to a majority draw at UFC on FX 2, and McCall lost the rematch three months later at UFC on FX 3.

Not only does he hope to become champion, he also thinks taking the belt off Johnson would erase any sort of negative stigma the weight class has.

“Entertainment value is a huge part of it, and Demetrious lacks in that department. If you watch from a technical standpoint, Demetrious is awesome. Brad’s one of only two people to beat Demetrious, and I am arguably the third guy to beat Demetrious,” McCall said. “If we can generate some star power in this division it’d be great. I think I am just the guy to do it. People want to see a polished, good-looking man hold the belt, not a nerdy gamer guy that has no personality.”