The countdown to UFC 204 in Manchester, England is well and truly on.

On October 8, British bantamweight Brad Picket will fight for the fifth time in the U.K. under the UFC banner. While the Londoner is relishing fighting once again on home soil, Pickett knows that having the home crowd behind you isn’t always advantageous.

“I understand now there are two ways you can look at it,” Pickett said. “It’s only a hometown advantage when you win. Sometimes a home crowd can put extra pressure on you to win so it can play against you in some way.

“I remember one time when I was boxing, I fought this guy in his hometown and I remember getting booed and I remember it spurring me on. I was like, 'F**k you guys’ and I fought really well. It works both ways to be honest. It won’t be an advantage in time zones that’s for sure if anything he’s from Brazil so he will be more used to fighting at that time than I am.”

Not looking forward to 2:30am fight

Pickett’s mention of time zones was in reference to the fact that UFC 204 will take place in the U.K., but with traditional US start times. Pickett admitted this wasn’t something he was looking forward to.

“It’s going to be a new one for me that’s for sure,” Pickett admitted. “I’ve never done that time. I have fought super early in the morning in Costa Rica at the like 9 or 10am in the morning. This is different though because it’s not like you can really go to bed and wake up for it.

“We’re going have to wait around a really, really long time which sucks for me because I normally just prefer to fight early. The anxiety of just waiting, waiting, and waiting the day of the fight is going to be such a mind f*ck. I just like getting it over done with. But hey, we can’t cry over spilled milk. I just got to suck it up and deal with it. I’ll have to get in some Red Bull.”

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Pickett just happy to do a job he loves

While he may not love the start time of his fight next week, Pickett is still more than content with life outside of the Octagon and insists that retirement isn’t on his mind.

The sale of the UFC for $4bn may have changed the mindset of some of the roster about what they are worth and whether they are paid enough, the eleven fight UFC veteran still loves the sport and believes that rewards come with performance.

“To be honest, you aren’t going to get paid more elsewhere,” Pickett said. “Obviously Bellator pay good money, but they really only take the top guys like Rory MacDonald who have left the UFC and pay them that good money. Look at the bottom of the roster and they don’t get paid well at all—nowhere near as good as UFC.

“Still though, who earns more money—Conor McGregor or Rory MacDonald? Obviously, Conor McGregor because he’s a bigger name in a bigger organization. At the end of the day, this is a performance based job and you must go in there and perform well consistently. That’s when you get paid the big money and if you don’t, then you get cut.”

Fighting for a check beats stacking a shelf for one

While some may be quick to draw the comparison of UFC fighter’s pay versus athletes in different sports, Pickett doesn’t think this is a fair assessment of the current situation.

“Do I think we are paid well compared to different athletes? No I don’t, but let’s be honest, MMA isn’t as big spectator sport as say a football stadium that is packed with 60,000 people every week,” he said. “The money that goes into those sports is crazy and that’s why you see all these crazy salaries. Every year the money gets better in the UFC—it’s not like it’s staying the same.

“People like Conor McGregor are making that big chunk of change and that’s great for him. For me, it’s good money if I go in there and perform and win. It’s even better when I get those performance bonuses. I’m not one to worry about this too much, I’ve earned a lot more money fighting that I’ve ever done in a supermarket.”