Aaron Pico sustained a brutal knockout loss in his UFC debut and a former multi-time bantamweight champion in the promotion who has worked with Pico before has weighed in on that situation. Appearing on the JAXXON Podcast, TJ Dillashaw discussed Pico's devastating defeat by way of a spinning back elbow to Lerone Murphy in one of the more hotly discussed fights from UFC 319 which went down on August 16th from Chicago.
When touching upon his anecdotal experience with the former Bellator MMA star in terms of things Pico does well and what he could improve on for subsequent octagon outings, Dillashaw said [via MMA Junkie],
"The first time I ever trained with Aaron Pico was when I moved back down here and started training with Sam Calavitta, and from day one, I was like, 'This kid could be a champion.' He is so good because he's an insanely good wrestler and his boxing is just awesome. He drops bombs. He's got an awesome liver shot."
"He looked really good in this fight. But again, I'm going to go back to [feints]. Pico was putting things together. His technique was great and his pressure was awesome, but he's just moving forward without any feints. He's not making Murphy guess on what he's throwing. Pico has now been knocked out a few times and he gets caught with another, back-to-back, spinning back elbow. He walks right into it."
Aaron Pico "has everything there is to be a champion", but is "so tense when he's fighting"
While expressing how much effort Pico puts into his training preparations and how he could further optimize his efforts within the heat of live UFC competition, Dillashaw stated [via MMA Junkie],
"Like, I work hard. This guy, it's insane how hard he works with Sam Calavitta at the gym. He puts everything into this thing. I'm very sad for him because he's a very talented guy. He's been knocked out a few times now, which is worrisome. Pretty heavy knockouts. It's just some small things he could do a little bit better. He's so tense when he's fighting. He's got this tunnel vision that he's looking for knockouts constantly."
Also, the former UFC titleholder praised Pico as someone who could also hoist UFC gold above his head someday and in addressing the UFC 319 situation while eyeing a more uplifting path forward, Dillashaw quipped [via MMA Junkie],
"Aaron Pico has everything there is to be a champion, it's just some small tweaks and changes that he can make. I hope he bounces back from this because I love the guy. He's an amazing human being. He works his ass off. He's very talented. Total bummer to have this happen."
