UFC 262: Jordan Wright vs Jamie Pickett- Preliminary Card Prediction and Analysis

UFC middleweights Jordan Wright and Jamie Pickett will scrap on the preliminary card for UFC 262 in Houston, Texas. The aforementioned 185-pounders will be keen to put on a show for the roaring 17,000 plus UFC fans that will be in attendance. The event marks the company’s second full capacity arena show which comes off the heels of the uber-successful UFC 261.

The middleweight division is at an important juncture as the divisional champion will return to defend his belt in a month. Chiefly, the top tier contenders are vying for a spot to take on the champion in a rather expedited fashion with a recent unofficial tournament. This bottleneck at the top usually creates an opportunity for an up and comers looking to make a name for themselves.

UFC 262: Jordan Wright vs Jamie Pickett

‘The Beverly Hills Ninja’ suffered a setback in his last fight when Joaquin Buckley viciously knocked him out. Prior to the loss, however, Jordan Wright was undefeated at 11-0-1 with a single NC. As Wright has a 100% finish rate in his UFC career, his fight with Jamie Pickett isn’t expected to go the distance.

Wright’s significant strikes landed per minute is 4.68 with a 50% accuracy. However, his game revolves more around landing the heavy strike as compared to landing with frequency. He’s got one-punch KO power and doesn’t hesitate to engage with his opponent.

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Jamie Pickett is also coming off a loss in his last fight via UD to Tafon Nchukwi back in December 2020. He’s 1-2 in appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series and is yet to etch a victory in the promotion. The battle against Jordan Wright is a high-risk-high reward play that could provide him with great visibility with a win.

Pickett’s game is rooted in fundamentals and he’s heavily reliant on fast blitzes especially when facing taller opponents. However, this maneuver didn’t pay off when he faced short-range artists like Punahele Soriano. Additionally, ‘The Nightwolf’ has a tendency to keep his chin up when cutting the cage to mount an offense and this could be a costly mistake.

Prediction: Jordan Wright to claim a first-round TKO win.