One to Watch: Brad Pickett vs. Francisco Rivera

With the UFC's distinct efforts to grow their brand in Europe under the tenure of UFC Senior Vice President for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) James Elliott, the UFC's upcoming visit to London's O2 Arena is arguably its biggest yet.

With new markets being explored in the form of The Netherlands and Croatia—events with stacked fight cards and big names featuring in their headlining act—it's clear 2016 is a big year for the UFC on the continent.

The UK forms a big component in Elliott's vision for the EMEA market, evidenced in the partnership he brokered between the UFC and the British Wrestling Association to help develop both amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts within the country.

The O2 Arena's event on Saturday night (or afternoon if you are living across the pond) clearly echoes the above sentiment. British fight fans have longed for a marquee main event for years and, this time around, have had their expectations met with the return of living MMA legend Anderson Silva taking on the ever-popular Michael Bisping. No complaints here.

While UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping is making noise for its headline fight alone—and rightfully so—the fight card has a plethora of interesting match-ups which indicate Elliott's vision.

Bisping's last opponent, Thales Leites, will face off against European star Gegard Mousasi, while there are other intriguing tilts which feature the likes of Rustam Khabilov taking on Northern Ireland's Norman Parke as well as UK prospect Tom Breese's return to these shores which sees him fight Keita Nakamura.

However, it's Brad Pickett's fight against Francisco Rivera which really encapsulates how good an event this is.

A sure-fire MMA war, both Pickett and Rivera are uncompromising in their aggressive striking attack, with the Englishman Pickett's crisp boxing earning him his "One Punch" moniker and the American Rivera boasting a 73% knockout win rate in his 11-5-1 record.

Despite the nickname Pickett possesses, he has a well-rounded skillset which saw him defeat current UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson back in the WEC—a skillset which has seen him win more fights by submission than knockout and belies the common misconception of his status as a British brawler.

That's not to say Pickett doesn't enjoy a good scrap. In fact, UFC president Dana White often sites the Londoner as one of his favorites to watch. When speaking to Ariel Helwani on his MMA Hour show, it's clear Pickett takes such praise in his stride:

"Anyone in any job, if their boss is a huge fan of them, it's certainly going to be good for you and your career. For me, I'm honored. To be honest, he knows the fight game. He's been in the fight game. I'm a product. As much as I'm a fighter, I know I'm a product and you want people to enjoy your fights. Not just Dana White, you want your fans, because at the end of the day, they paid money to watch you fight.

"If your fight is always boring, no one wants to see you fight, so it's good to be in exciting fights. Don't get me wrong, you need to win as well, you can't be an exciting fighter and in exciting fight all the time and lose all the time and be in this job. And you can't always win all the time and just lay on the guy and not do anything because as soon as you lose you'll probably end up on the undercard a lot because you're in boring fights. You need to mix it up. I'm glad Dana loves my style. I've always been that type of guy. I like to get in the mix. I like getting in the pocket and being in a fight."

In his last outing, Pickett put in a stirring performance against brilliant Brazilian prospect Thomas Almeida at UFC 189. Close to earning the huge upset victory over his younger opponent, Pickett roughed up and floored Almeida in the first round of their contest. However, the Brit couldn't put Almeida away and succumbed to a spectacular flying knee KO in the second round in an enthralling back-and-forth bout between two contenders at different stages in their respective careers.

Rivera is no stranger to an entertaining brawl himself. "Cisco" is a polished striker in his own right, evidenced by his impressive KO-to-win ratio as mentioned above. However, the American's last outing saw him lose to the heavy-handed John Lineker.

Cisco's fight against Lineker will live long in memory despite its relatively-short timeframe. It was 128 seconds of pure offense, with both men trading punches in effort to earn a spectacular finish win. However, Rivera's power wasn't enough to put his foe away and the shots he took soon caught up with him. Wobbled from the fists of the heavy hitting Lineker, Rivera soon found himself in the guillotine choke of the Brazilian and was forced to submit—an unexpected finish to a barnstorming brawl.

As exciting as the fight was, Rivera fought with reckless abandon that night and it cost him dear. In fact, three of Rivera's five losses have come by way of submission—one against UFC veteran Urijah Faber and the aforementioned loss to Lineker, who isn't exactly known for his grappling ability. While MMA math doesn't truly correlate to what happens in the Octagon, there could be an argument made that Pickett's advantage in this fight lies with his grappling game.

Both men are out of form in the UFC. Hometown hero Pickett has only been victorious on two occasions since 2012, losing his last three fights in a row with a 2-4 record since his split decision loss to Eddie Wineland at UFC 155. Meanwhile, Rivera is 1-3 in his last four fights.

So not only is this an interesting match-up with enormous potential to be a classic in the cage, but the fight also has massive career implications for both men. This fight is simply a must-see. Don't miss Brad Pickett vs. Francisco Rivera at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping.