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By Bob Teal, MMATorch Specialist
At one time Drew Fickett was considered to be a very promising fighter, capable of competing at the highest level against the very best this sport has to offer. His talent truly was unquestionable. He had good skills on his feet and on the mat. He possessed great heart and was always very charismatic. His future in mixed martial arts seemed to be very bright.
Fickett owns some very notable wins over a number of name fighters including Edwin DeWees, Josh Neer, Kurt Pellegrino, and Kenny Florian. Perhaps his most notable win was in 2005 when he upset up and coming welterweight fighter Josh Koscheck at UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 2.
During most of the bout Fickett was dominated by Koscheck. Drew was taken down at will and received a heavy dose of ground and pound, but Koscheck was never quite able to finish the fight. Perhaps this was because Koscheck’s game was still evolving. Possibly, but Drew was also very proficient at avoiding damage from his back by keeping an active guard, and was able to keep himself out of any real danger.
In addition he almost pulled off a couple of submission attempts. Either way he persevered through the fight despite being outclassed. In the third round with 30 seconds remaining he caught Koscheck in the head with a knee just after the fighters had been stood up by the ref. Fickett seized the moment and took the back of his downed opponent, sunk in a rear naked choke and put the Kos to bed… literally.
You could argue he beat a number of these guys when they were still young and evolving into the fighters they are today. With that said Fickett is two years younger than Koscheck and the very same could be said about him.
Since his run with the UFC he has fought with the now defunct Elite XC promotion, Strikeforce, MFC and several other regional promotions. Fickett Finished 2008 with a 4-3 mark including a TKO loss to former TUF participant and eventual UFC cast off Jesse Taylor. In 2009 Fickett suffered four consecutive losses to start the year. And if you thought his downward spiral couldn’t get any worse; it did.
On June 27th 2009 he was set to face Pride veteran Shannon Ritsch in a Rage in the Cage event in Arizona. He allegedly showed up to the fight inebriated and was unable to pass the pre fight physical. In an internet post on The Underground, Ritch commented that during that pre-fight physical they gave Fickett a breathalyzer, and he apparently blew a 0.18! This is more than twice the legal limit in Arizona.
Since that fateful day in June, Fickett has fought once more suffering a knockout in a losing effort in August of this year. As of right now a future opponent has not been named. If Drew is grappling with some demons, if he can get the better of them, it's not too late to once again give us a glimpse of the fighter we saw just a few short years ago.
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Bob Teal is a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. Please feel free to comment on my article by emailing me. My email address is rjosephteal@aol.com. Thank you for your feedback!
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