Aaron
Pico had an early night at
UFC 333, but he wasn’t in a hurry.

Pico (15-5) was originally scheduled to face Arnold
Allen in a featherweight bout Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu
Dhabi. However, Allen withdrew while recovering from previous
treatments and was replaced by Losene
Keita (17-3) just over a month before the event. Pico dropped
Keita with a right hand before finishing him with ground-and-pound
at 1:14 of the opening round.

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Aaron Pico explains patient approach after first UFC stoppage
against Losene Keita

Pico said afterward that he hadn’t been chasing a quick finish.
Confident in his conditioning, he believes longer fights benefit
him as long as he can impose his game plan. Still, he welcomed the
opportunity to leave the Octagon early.

“Honestly, the longer the fight goes, the better. As long as I’m
just cooking the fight from the beginning, sticking to my gameplan,
I’m not gonna get tired. So the longer it goes, the more fun I’m
gonna have, the more experience. But to be honest with you, I’m
happy I got out of there early. It’s nice to go home early. Plus I
got a flight to catch in a few hours.”

A highly touted prospect that has experienced ups and downs in
Bellator
MMA, Pico suffered a knockout loss to Lerone
Murphy in his UFC debut last year. He has since rebounded with
victories over Patricio
Freire and Keita. Pico said he worked to adopt a beginner’s
mentality after his debut defeat. Rather than rushing to finish
fights, he now views every minute in the Octagon as an opportunity
to gain experience.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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