Aljamain Sterling isn’t ready to write Aaron Pico off just yet.
Former Bellator standout Pico (13-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was knocked out by Lerone Murphy in the opening round of his Octagon debut at UFC 319 last weekend, marking the fourth knockout loss of his professional career.
Despite a strong start, the 28-year-old was stopped by a spectacular spinning elbow just over three minutes into the fight.
Now Sterling — who is preparing to face Brian Ortega in the co-main event at UFC Shanghai this weekend — has backed Pico to recover from the loss, comparing it to his last knockout loss at the hands of Adam Borics in 2019.
"I think it was just one tactical error, and something he made a similar mistake in Bellator,” Sterling told MMA Junkie. “I don't know how he did that again, but this time I feel like that one was way worse. I don't know. I have to go back and see the other knockout, but they were both bad. But again, he looked great, he looked like a world-beater.
“There was one point where Lerone caught him with one clean shot where he looked like he shot in because he got hurt. So, I'm a little bit curious to see if he's chinny. That spinning back elbow would have probably knocked anybody out, but yeah, that was always my question mark. Does he have a chin to go with his fight style? Because he's so aggressive and if he lands first, that's the fight. But the other guys catch him, you don't know.”
Pico joins Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Patchy Mix on the list of former Bellator stars who fell short in their UFC debuts this year. Sterling is backing him to follow Freire’s example, rebounding from his defeat to Yair Rodriguez by securing his first UFC win against Dan Ige in July.
“I think he can still make some noise in the division,” Sterling said. “I mean, Pitbull lost his debut, came back, and won his second one. We'll see how Patchy does, and we'll see how Pico bounces back. It's all about the mental aspect of it."
