Scott Coker on Aaron Pico: ‘Don’t count this kid out’

Aaron Pico has long stood out as one of the hottest prospects on the Bellator MMA roster. Regrettably, the 22-year-old has been brutally knocked out in his two most recent bouts, leaving some real concerns about his future in the sport.

Speaking at the Bellator 222 post-fight press conference, shortly after Pico’s knockout loss to Adam Borics, Bellator President Scott Coker discussed the recent rough stretch of this promising prospect.

He says we should refrain from counting Pico out, despite his recent skid.

“Don’t count this kid out,” Coker said inside Madison Square Garden (via MMA Junkie). “Aaron Pico, he is learning how to do this, and he’s fought some tough guys and like he said, he said, ‘Look, I can wrestle, and I can box, but I’m still learning how to fight.'”

Coker continued, praising the game plan of Aaron Pico and his new team at JacksonWink MMA — which seemed to be paying off until Borics shut the lights off with a knee.

“You know, there’s a kid that had a great gameplan,” Coker said. “I think (Greg) Jackson had a solid thought in how are they going to fight this kid. And for the most part, he did great. He just made one mistake, he got hit, and you saw the rest. That’s MMA. That can happen to anybody. So, it’s just part of the business.”

From here, Coker says he’ll give Aaron Pico a few weeks off, then contact him to discuss what’s next.

“We’ll have a conversation about (that) in a couple weeks and see what he wants to do, and maybe he should take a big step back before he starts to move forward again,” Coker said.

What do you think the future holds for Aaron Pico after his Bellator 222 loss?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/17/2019.