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Pickett wants McDonald, and soon

Brad Pickett has asked to fight again this year © Getty Images

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Brad Pickett is too respectful to call out future opponents, but the British bantamweight admits he would love a scrap with Michael McDonald after landing the Knockout of the Night at UFC on Fuel 5 on Saturday.

Pickett produced the moment of the night in Nottingham, timing a first-round uppercut perfectly to floor Yves Jabouin in a high class 135lb encounter. His victory - and the manner of it - earned him a $40,000 bonus, and a guaranteed big fight in his next outing.

Directly after his win Pickett refused to speak directly of McDonald at the post-fight press conference, but he did approach Dana White to ask him for another fight as soon as possible.

The UFC heads to Australia on December 15 for an event headlined by the TUF Smashes clash between coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos, and Pickett would love to be on that card. McDonald is currently free and, in Pickett's eyes, would make a lot of sense.

"To be honest, I'd really like to fight Michael McDonald," Pickett said on The MMA Hour. "I never, ever, ever call anyone out and even now I'm not calling him out. It's just a fight for me I really like.

"We both like to throw bombs. He's knocked some people out, I can knock people out. He's ranked above me and that's where I want to go.

"Ranks are ranks and the only ranks that count to me are number one. Anything past number one is really opinion.

"All the people that I've fought were below me at the time, even [Renan] Barao, when I fought him he was below me. Now he's gone above me. But, I'm always fighting people behind me so it would be nice to get that shot and fight someone above me."

Pickett will be a special guest on this week's ESPN UFC Podcast. Send your questions to him @ESPNUK using #ESPNUFC.

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