A nation celebrated yesterday as Neil Seery was confirmed as Brad Pickett’s opponent for the UFC’s March 8 date at London’s 02.

Catching up with Ireland’s latest UFC contracted fighter minutes after his signing was officially announced, Seery was quick to thank everyone involved with the social media campaign that saw both him and UFC matchmaker, Sean Shelby, trend in Ireland.

“Thanks to everyone who got involved,” said Seery minutes after the news broke. “Now it’s down to me. I’ve got 16 days to prepare for this and I’m going give it everything I’ve got. I’ve been ticking over in the gym helping the other Team Ryano guys get ready for their fights but now I’m going to have to put in some serious work leading up to March 8.

“There’s no way you could put a full camp together in that time, but what can you do? It’s not ideal but we can’t change that now. This is the fight that we wanted and I’m getting an opportunity to fight for the UFC, I’m going to do everything I can to win the fight.”

The Team Ryano man explained the length of his contract while also confirming that he would have to vacate his Cage Warriors world title. The Dubliner also spoke of his gratitude regarding the Graham Boylan promotion and his strengthened position for the UFC’s Dublin return.

“It’s a four fight deal, I don’t know if that’s come out yet. It’s a very short notice fight and I think they’ve taken that into consideration. That’s good for me, it means that I have a much better chance of competing on the Dublin card when the UFC come back.

“When the UFC come calling it’s one of them opportunities you just can’t turn down. Cage Warriors putting me on the big stage gave me this opportunity and I’m very grateful for that,” he said.

With Brad Pickett now firmly in Seery’s firing line, the former CWFC flyweight champion shared his thoughts on what type of fight he thinks he’s in for at London’s 02.

“It’s great to see everybody so excited but I’m the one who is going to have to get in there and fight this fella,” he said.

“Brad is real scrapper, there’s no doubt about that. I’m a big fan of his style, I like the way he goes about his business and I think everybody knows that we’re going to go toe to toe, that’s just the way we fight. We’re going to go in there and try to finish each other – someone’s getting knocked out.”

By Peter Carroll – @PetesyCarroll

Photo: Cage Warriors