Aaron Pico entered Bellator 286 on the verge of a shot at the featherweiht championship. Rather than picking up the biggest win of his career, Pico suffered a loss to Jeremy Kennedy when the ringside doctor stopped the fight after an apparent shoulder injury.
Early in Round 1, the two fighters exchanged strikes before grappling, when it became apparent that Pico had suffered some sort of injury to his left arm.
Pico, a decorated amateur wrestler, immediately appeared to lose full use of his left arm. The injury allowed Kennedy to control the action on the ground and in the grappling exchanges. Despite seeming compromised, Pico managed to survive the round.
However, after heading to his corner following the conclusion of the opening round, Pico’s corner grabbed his arm and yanked and pulled in a seeming attempt to pop his shoulder back into place.
The referee asked the ringside physician to check Pico ahead of the start of Round 2, at which point the doctor stated that he believed Pico had suffered a broken clavicle.
Pico immediately ran back to the training room to head to the hospital. The loss snapped a six-fight winning streak for Pico, five of which came by stoppage. He was once considered the top prospect to ever enter the world of mixed martial arts before losing his debut fight and then suffering back-to-back knockout losses in his sixth and seventh career fights.
Kennedy has now won two straight, and is 3-1 in the Bellator cage. He exited the UFC in 2018 with a 3-1 record in the Octagon. He has since gone 5-1 while making his own case for a shot at the Bellator title at 145 pounds.
