Props: MMArated.com
Quoteworthy:
"I'm a man of my word. I'm a man of my bond. I trained my ass off with my boy Kurt Pellegrino for like six weeks man. We trained balls. I was ready for five rounds against, honestly a superior technical opponent, who I was game to fight and game to beat, and you know try my best. Two days before I'm supposed to fight Jake, he pulls out of the fight. Alright cool, whatever, I'm trying to be a better man and he had a legitimate injury. So I fight Jae Suk Lim, who is actually a very good fighter. I got the best of him real quick and I didn't get to see what he had unfortunately, because I know he was very talented, and I would have loved to have a little more time fighting him. So I go back and start training for the June card. I get a call...actually I pushed back the fight until July because I ended up hurting my knee. Two months out, my knee's kind of twisted, and I got to fight five rounds with one of the best guys in the world. So, I'm like, I need more time to train. They're like alright cool, you're calling us 2 months in advance, rather than two days. So I'm like cool, I let them know July. Then Jake is like, verbatum from him and his manager, I can't fight until after August. I messed my back up and can't fight until after August. So I emailed Jake and said sorry about your injury, let me know when you're ready. I'm gonna keep fighting because I love to fight every month. He emails me back, hey man I was ready for June. Ok, I don't know what that means, but thats a little strange and odd. I'm like cool, whatever, I end up fighting a guy that I fought a long time ago who is like 3-10. A very low risk fight in Rage in the Cage. I get my knee taped up by a PT, like master blaster style. The whole time I'm like, alright I'm not gonna kick, I'm just gonna go in there and submit him real quick. What happens? I go in there and submit him real quick. I make like $2,500 bucks. Then I start hearing rumors of Jake talking shit. Before I fought in Rage in the Cage in June, I even emailed him, letting him know, hey man I have to take a low risk fight to make some money. So I'm just letting you know, I'm not avoiding our fight. My knee's pretty messed up, but I got to fight hurt. I have proof of the email. So he's like, cool, whatever, we'll make it happen. Now all of a sudden he's better, and he's not injured until August, and he's fighting Nick Thompson for his little fake ass little belt in July. He's talking shit, saying I'm ducking him and this and that. I just don't understand people. You might be able to beat me in the ring or whatever, but trust me, I'm the first guy you want to go to war with."
Drew Fickett gives his side of the events that transpired leading to his absence from the June 14 Elite XC welterweight title fight against Jake Shields. "The Master" went ahead and took a fight just a week before the show, indicating to most that he was indeed not hurt. Regardless, it didn't sit well with Elite XC and the promotion booked Nick Thompson to challenge Shields instead on July 26. Most recently, Fickett took a fight on short notice to tangle with Luke Stewart at Strikeforce: "Melendez vs. Thomson." However, in doing so he would have violated the terms of his contract with MFC -- he has a title fight booked against Ryan Ford in late July. Long story short, Fickett never got to fight Stewart and now MFC has scratched him from its card because of the dust up. Fickett is an original for sure. The interview is pretty funny, and worth a listen if you have some time.