Midnight Mania! What’s Next For Aaron Pico After KO Loss?

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Aaron Pico entered the mixed martial arts (MMA) world with a ridiculous amount of momentum behind him. While in high school, Pico proved himself a world-class wrestler against elite competition. At the age of 19, Pico very nearly qualified for the US Olympic team, losing a close match up in the final.

Pico is a physical animal with great strength and a deep gas tank. Priming him even more for success was Pico’s background in boxing, which saw him win national championships at the junior level. In Pankration — a safer version of MMA for those underage — Pico won championships at the national level and in Europe.

So how the hell is Pico 4-3 in seven fights, with his two most recent losses coming via knockout?

Pico has tried to jump into the deep end of the talent pool since the beginning. Two years ago, he debuted against a foe with ten professional fights, quickly getting rocked and falling into a choke. A rough start to be sure, but Pico proved his grit by battling back to score four straight knockouts, all against opponents with far more experience than the prospect.

Thriving on momentum and physicality, Pico tried to brutalize Henry Corales (16-3). He scored big strikes early, but Corales endured and slept Pico with a massive overhand in a wild exchange. Pico tried to learn his lesson, switching camps to the patient strategists of the Jackson-Winkeljohn team and trying to wrestle more at Bellator 222. It worked early, but Adam Borics (13-0) stormed back to stop him in the second (seen in the tweet above).

Pico knocked out Leandro Higo before his pair of losses, and Higo had recently challenged for the Bantamweight title. He also dropped Corales early and could have finished him. It’s not a question of whether Pico can occasionally pick up wins against the upper end of Bellator’s Featherweight division — he can.

But that doesn’t mean he should.

What’s next for the 22-year-old? The immensely talented athlete that Bellator has invested a significant amount of time and money in? Hopefully, both the organization and Pico himself recognize that while the window of opportunity is short in combat sports, they need to view his career as a more long term situation.

Pico is still a point in his career where — despite all his physical gifts and credentials — he is making mistakes in the cage. That’s to be expected given his inexperience in professional MMA, but Bellator continues to match him with tough, aggressive opponents who can capitalize on such mistakes violently.

There’s no reason for this trend to continue, as it will send Pico to an early retirement.

Insomnia

This is basically a Colby Covington move.

Bellator’s double-champ Patricio Freire vs. Max Holloway is a dream match up for fans of MMA striking.

Six women are set to throw down in Uruguay on August 10th.

Another painful update to Cody Garbrandt’s back tattoo. The pistol is to be covered up next time, but at least Garbrandt was able to shoot Dominick Cruz with it first (GIF).

Khalil Rountree is back in Thailand, and my jealousy is immeasurable.

Michael Chandler’s workouts always focus on explosiveness and fast-twitch muscle, and you can certainly see the results in the cage.

“Groovy” vs. Doggo

Credit to the champ, Jon Jones’ comment on Valentina Shevchenko’s dancing post is funnier than anything I would’ve come up with: “This girl would literally shoot your d^ck off, remember that fellas ”

Slips, Rips, and One Hero KO clips

Great combo! The spinning back fist (or back kick) can serve as a sneaky way to transition into Southpaw, where that left kick is always dangerous.

A pair of demonstrations from One Hero Series on the risk of throwing low kicks, which are the best weapon in the game only until something like this happens!

Let’s reinforce that lesson one more time. Lazy kicks are BAD!

Anytime the ring/cage is outside, expect copious amounts of nonsense.

Random Land

I admittedly spend a lot more time with trap bar than traditional deadlift, but that’s really semantics: I support this message.

A more interesting plot than the latest Jurassic Park.

Music from the making of Midnight Mania: Finishing off the 1950s in my aforementioned 1001 albums book, I found Marty Robbins’ concept album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs very charming. The Grammy winning album dives headfirst into its Western theme, spinning tales of shootouts and hanging trees. From the album’s cover to its content, the whole thing is hilariously whole-hearted and sincere in its love of the American West.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.