Aaron Pico vows ‘I will be champion one day,’ reveals first punch dislocated shoulder at Bellator 286
As it turns out, Aaron Pico dislocated his shoulder throwing his first punch on Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator 286.
Pico on Sunday released a video explaining what happened before and after his ill-fated bout with Kennedy. He vowed to return stronger after checking on the status of his injury.
My shoulder’s still a little sore, 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 to make it through the first round to get to the second round and put my shoulder back into place. 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 orders to my coach was, ‘Hey coach’ – 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 – but my orders to him were, ‘Hey, my shoulder is out, do whatever you can to possibly put it back into place. So we tried everything, and we couldn’t do it.
The cageside doctor at Long Beach Arena registered immediate concern when called in by the fight’s referee and speculated Pico may have a broken clavicle. He asked Pico to raise his arm, which the fighter couldn’t completely do. Pico pleaded to be allowed to continue, telling the doctor “this is how I feed my family,” but the bout was subsequently waved off, and Kennedy earned at TKO at 5:00 of Round 1.
Pico called the doctor’s stoppage “probably the smartest thing” considering his situation and said he was “rushed to the hospital” to have his shoulder put back into place. He said would have MRIs done on his Tuesday to determine the extent of damage to his shoulder.
“I will be champion one day,” he said. “The road is a little bit rougher than I would like, but it’s all good. I just want to say I appreciate all your kind words. I will be back.”
Pico’s loss snapped a six-fight winning streak and possibly cost him an immediate title shot against champ Patricio Pitbull. Bellator President Scott Coker welcomed a rematch between Pico and Kennedy but said the timetable of a rematch and Kennedy’s preference would determine whether it will take place.