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At Bellator 286, according to Aaron Pico, he hurt his shoulder in the first minute.
On Saturday, Pico (10-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) was stopped in the first round of his battle with Jeremy Kennedy (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) because his trainer was unable to realign his injured shoulder. Pico suffered a TKO defeat as a consequence of the referee's decision to call the fight off.
Pico's coach, Brandon Gibson, was shown in pictures forcibly pushing and tugging on his shoulder; nevertheless, the 26-year-old competitor claimed that he wanted him to do so. He gave an update on his injuries and vowed not to let anything stop him from winning 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.”
Kennedy's victory put an end to Pico's six-fight winning run. Before that, Pico had defeated five of six opponents via knockout, and with a victory over UFC veteran Kennedy, he hoped to enter the championship race.
Pico wants to discuss things with Kennedy again, and Bellator President Scott Coker indicated he's open to the possibility if their schedules coincide.