Aaron Pico was looking very good against Lerone Murphy in his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut at UFC 319 a few weeks ago…up until he wasn’t.
Pico came out super-aggressive — as is customary for him — landing heavy shots and putting Murphey on his toes. But, halfway through the opening frame he got a bit too overzealous and “The Iceman” found just enough daylight to land a nasty spinning elbow (the second of the night) that put the former Bellator MMA star out for the count.
While it was
an unfortunate defeat for the talented striker, he is seemingly in good spirits a few weeks removed from the show.
“He’s doing good. He’s very positive,” Ali Abdelaziz — who manages Pico — told Submission Radio — (via MMA Junkie). “This can happen to the best of them. It’s a game of inches. It can happen to everyone. But one of the things I know about Aaron, he’s been there before many times, and he always came back on top. I have no doubt in my mind he will come back. He will fight for a championship one day. I have no doubt he will fight for a UFC belt one day.”
Due to the violent nature of the knockout defeat, Abdelaziz says he will not allow Pico to return in 2025, as he will impose a six-month sit on his fighter to protect his health.
“I have rules, man,” Abdelaziz said. “When guys get knocked out like that, I’m not going to book him a fight for at least six months. After six months, he can fight. But (he needs to take off) at least six months. It’s not healthy for a fighter to go out like that and just try to come back early.
“We see it over and over happen to many guys, and it doesn’t work like (it did for Alexander Volkanovski). It doesn’t work good for them when the guys come back this early. They say health is the most important, and he’ll be back. I’m not worried about it, honestly. He’s good. His health is good.”
Pico has been on the receiving end of three other KO/TKO losses before, though one was due to a shoulder injury (see it again here). That said, much credit has to be given to Abdelaziz for looking out for his fighter in this instance because returning too soon likely won’t be a good look or produce great results.
Pico is 13-5 as a professional and despite his stunning loss in his UFC debut we can expect him to bounce back in his next attempt, much like Patricio Pitbull —another Bellator castaway — did in his sophomore effort after coming up short in his own Octagon debut.
