UFC 327 goes down this weekend, and Patricio Pitbull takes on Aaron Pico, with a prior adversary of Pitbull’s weighing in on the bout. The combatant in question is Sergio Pettis, who also does battle this Saturday. The former Bellator MMA champion takes on PFL debutant Mitch McKee in the headliner of PFL Chicago on April 11th.
During Pettis’ Bellator MMA championship reign at 135 pounds, he got a win over Patricio Pitbull in the latter’s attempt to become a three-division champ within the promotion. When asked for his thoughts on Pitbull’s fight on Saturday with Aaron Pico at UFC 327, another prominent Bellator MMA alum as well, Pettis said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, it’s going to be an interesting fight. [Aaron] Pico’s a beast. I know Pico is coming off of a devastating loss, so I don’t know how that’s going to play with his head a little bit. Patricio [Pitbull’s] got some momentum built up behind him now with a couple good performances in the UFC. So, yeah, we’ll see how things play out. I’m excited just to watch those guys go at it. They’ve never gone at it before. So, both explosive, both killers. So, should be hell of a fight.”
Aaron Pico was “really embarrassed” after Lerone Murphy KO defeat in UFC debut
Aaron Pico enters the octagon for his sophomore outing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 11th and seems eager to put his debut performance in the promotion behind him. The spinning back elbow knockout loss to Lerone Murphy at UFC 319 last August went viral, and when reflecting upon that setback while speaking at the UFC 327 media day, Pico stated [via MMA Fighting],
“I’m not going to lie, after the last loss, I took it a little bit hard. I was really embarrassed and had some down days. It’s just part of the game, especially when you put a lot of work into it. That’s what fans sometimes don’t understand. I’m very thankful for the fans, don’t get me wrong, but then you also get the fans that criticize and say certain things, but they don’t see the behind the scenes, how much work, the hunger pangs before bed because you’re cutting weight.”
“The toll it takes on families and things like that and you put your life and soul into it and to come up short, especially on a big stage like that, I took it really, really hard. It was OK, though, after a few weeks with my son and traveling and spending a lot of time in Morocco, one thing I always know is that the sun rises the next morning. My son loves me and my family’s got me and yeah, just got to get back on the horse. It was very difficult, but I’m back now, so all good.”
