Scott Coker discusses leaving Aaron Pico off Bellator featherweight grand prix

Bellator president Scott Coker appears to be taking things slow with Aaron Pico.

While Pico has been hailed as one of the greatest prospects in MMA, he was thrown to the wolves rather quickly. At the age of 22, Pico has a record of 4-3 and he’s been stopped in all of his losses. In his last two outings, Pico was brutally knocked out by Henry Corrales and Adam Borics.

Coker recently announced the participants for the Bellator featherweight grand prix. Pico’s name was absent.

During a media day session, the Bellator boss explained why Aaron Pico has been excluded from the tournament (via MMAJunkie.com).

“With Aaron, we’re going to meet with his manager either this weekend or next week,” Coker said. “I always felt like after his last fight in New York, let’s take a beat back. He’s a great kid. We have a lot of respect for him. We think he’s going to still come back and be great, but I think it’s time to take a beat. Let him train and let him get through this process. He would be fighting as early as Sept. 7 in eight weeks coming off that fight in New York. I think he’ll be back, it’s just a matter of time.”

It’s important to note that there is still an outside chance that Pico makes his way into the grand prix. During an appearance on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Coker said that Pico could wind up in an alternate spot.

Do you think leaving Aaron Pico off the Bellator featherweight grand prix was the right call?