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Following UFC merge, Pickett wants Miguel Torres

The UFC announced on Thursday that there will be bantamweight and featherweight divisions from the start of 2011, and England's Brad Pickett wants Miguel Torres as his first opponent in MMA's premier organisation.

Pickett is a top class bantamweight, formally a Cage Rage British featherweight champion, and at 32 years of age has developed a 19-5 professional record. Known as "One Punch", he went nine fights unbeaten from 2007 before he dropped a decision to Scott Jorgensen in his last outing.

As part of the WEC furniture, Pickett will be among those fighters absorbed into the UFC's new bantamweight division, and he wants to make a splash from the outset. He is expected to fight in December before making his official UFC debut in 2011, and Pickett admits he wants to share the same Octagon as Miguel Torres.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Torres went 17 fights unbeaten from 2004, making three successful defences of the WEC bantamweight crown, before suffering a knockout at the hands of Brian Bowles in August 2009. Like Pickett, Torres comes to fight from the opening bell, and the Brit wants it to happen in the UFC.

"I'm not a guy to call people out, I like to fight anybody in the top ten, but if you pushed me I'd like to maybe fight Miguel," Pickett told ESPN. "He needs a fight, I need a fight, and it'd be a really good fight.

"That's the one the fans want, it's a really good match-up, he's a nice guy, I like him a lot and this is only business. I believe I've got the skills to beat him and it'd certainly put me back up there."

Torres reacted to the WEC's merge with the UFC on Heavy.com, predicting the likes of current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will eventually drop to bantamweight.

"It's pretty wild man," Torres said. "[It's] something that I've been wanting to happen for a long time and now it's here. It's going to give me a bigger audience and show how much of a badass I am.

"You're going to see a lot [of fighters dropping weight classes]," Torres said. "Look at Frankie Edgar. He could easily make 135. Frankie's a good example. He's a champ at 155 and could be a champion at any weight class he wants. 155, 135, and 145."

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