Aaron Pico now has a UFC end to his title.
In a combat many believed would finish rapidly, Pico (15-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was on the dishing finish of a knockout to Losene Keita (17-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at UFC 333 on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The finish of the major card featherweight bout came at 1:14 of Round 1.
Advertisement
After surviving some early wrestling, Keita ate a proper hand on the chin that had him all kinds of wobbled. Keita stumbled backward and crashed to the canvas. Pico swarmed, and as Keita turned belly-down, he completed the combat with punches.
“Honestly, it feels amazing,” Pico said in his in-cage interview with Daniel Cormier. “This guy was very confident coming into this fight, and I told my coaches, ‘After this fight, he’s going to wish he put on the wrestling shoes at four years old.’ I wanted to go back to my roots and be smart, and I know if I do that, I become a world champion.
“If you’re asking me what I need, I need to combat for a title. But if that can’t occur, I need a rematch with Lerone Murphy. And all these guys that are sitting on their rating, not wanting to settle for fights, backing out of fights – they need to be benched for a 12 months. It’s loopy. I call them rankings squatters. They just keep there. That’s all they care about. No, let’s combat. I need to make money, and I need to get to the title.”
Advertisement
Pico, 30, has now won back-to-back fights. After a knockout loss to Murphy in his promotional debut, Pico defeated Patricio Freire by unanimous decision in April.
Keita, 28, falls to 1-2 in the UFC. He replaced the injured Arnold Allen opposite Pico, taking the fight on short notice days after a big knockout win against Muhammad Naimov.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 333 results include:
-
Aaron Pico def. Losene Keita via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:14
This article initially appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 333 outcomes: Aaron Pico finishes Losene Keita in 74 seconds
Source hyperlink
