Aaron Pico says he injured his shoulder in the opening minute at Bellator 286.
Pico (10-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) had his fight with Jeremy Kennedy (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) stopped at the end of Round 1 on Saturday after his coach failed to pop his dislocated shoulder back into place. The cageside physician waved the fight off, resulting in a TKO loss for Pico.
The images of Pico’s coach, Brandon Gibson, aggressively pushing and pulling his shoulder turned heads, but the 26-year-old contender said he asked him to do so. He provided an update on his injury and vows he won’t be deterred in his quest for Bellator gold.
“My shoulder’s still a little sore,” Pico said in an Instagram post on Sunday. “Yesterday in the first round, I think it was the first 30 seconds, I threw a hook, and my shoulder popped out. My strategy was just try to make it through the first round to get to the second round and put the shoulder back into place, and I tried in the fight. Midway through the fight I kept trying to put it back into place, but it just wouldn’t go. So I made it out of the first round, and my order to my coach was – keep in mind, guys, he’s not an expert, he’s not a chiropractor, he doesn’t know how to put shoulders back into place.
“My orders to him were, ‘Hey, my shoulder’s out, do whatever you possibly can to put it back into place.’ So we tried everything, and we couldn’t do it, and ultimately the fight was stopped, which was probably the smartest thing, and I was rushed to the hospital and put it back into place. I still feel like there’s some things that we need to clear up, but I’m gonna see a shoulder doctor on Tuesday and get some MRIs done and heal this thing. I will be champion one day. The road is a little bit rougher than I would like, but it’s all good. I’m in good spirits.”
The loss to Kennedy snapped Pico’s six-fight winning streak. Prior to that, Pico had finished five of six opponents, and was looking to jump into title contention with a win over UFC veteran Kennedy.
Bellator president Scott Coker said Pico wants to run things back with Kennedy, and he’s open to the idea if their timelines align.
