Tom Picciano fired up ahead of CFFC 116 clash with Damion Nelson: 'I'm going to put a hurting on this boy, for real'

Tom Picciano doesn't really know fellow featherweight Damion Nelson all that well, but he's absolutely positive that he doesn't like him.

Linked together for a few previous bouts that ultimately didn't materialize, Picciano is ready to finally step in the cage with Nelson, and he's promising to make it a violent affair.

"We were supposed to fight a few times, and it was my fault that the fight got canceled, but now this time, ain't nothing going to happen," Picciano said. "It was my fault because I was training dumb and going mad hard right before a fight and getting injured. I had serious injuries, and I wasn't going to go out there and just fight him wounded so then he could beat me when I know I can f-cking beat this clown. Now I'm going to go in there, and I'm going to put a hurting on this boy, for real."

The last time the two were paired together was 2021 in what would have been Picciano's pro debut. The 24-year-old Long Island MMA product instead took time off to recover from his injuries and has since picked up a pair of wins while competing under the CFFC banner. He assumed his chance to face Longo and Weidman MMA's Nelson had passed.

He then found out otherwise.

"We were going to just stop fighting that gym all together because, you know, we're the two big gyms on Long Island," Picciano explained. "There was I guess like a mutual understanding, like, 'Hey, let's work together instead of having our guys keep fighting each other,' and then I got a call when I was training that, 'Hey, they want to fight you,' so he actually asked for it this time, and once I heard that, I went to my coach, and I was like, 'Yeah, all right, bet. Let's go because I'm trying to f-ck him up now.'"

Picciano (2-0) and Nelson (3-1) now meet on the preliminary card of Friday's CFFC 116 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The action precedes the night's main card, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS.

Picciano is excited to finally compete against a man for whom he's prepared on multiple occasions.

"It's been so many times," Picciano said. "It's like come on, let's get it going. I've watched film on this kid so many times. I've had three fight camps for this kid. This is the fourth, you know, so it's like, let's get it going now. I'm not trying to waste my time no more."

After the fight, Picciano plans on traveling to Thailand to train at the famed Tiger Muay Thai to continue rounding out his skills as he pursues a dream of competing in the UFC. It's a position he promises to reach someday soon, and remaining perfect in his professional career would certainly aid that pursuit. But Picciano said he's not content simply winning on Friday night. This one needs a little something extra.

"He's definitely not a bum," Picciano said. "I'm not going to sit here and call him a bum, but I think that styles make fights, you know? So we'll see how he handles that. 

"It's going to be a f-cking good one. I'm definitely going to finish this motherf-cker, for sure."