Bellator president Scott Coker all praises for Aaron Pico post huge KO victory

Bellator president Scott Coker showered praise on Aaron Pico following the featherweight's impressive performance on Saturday at Bellator 238 in The Forum, Inglewood, California.

Pico is a highly-touted prospect but heading into his fight on Saturday night, back-to-back stoppage losses halted his momentum for a while. He shrugged it all off by putting up a stellar performance en-route to a 2nd round knockout victory over Daniel Carey and established himself as a talent to be reckoned with. (h/t MMA Junkie)

Speaking about Pico, Coker said that the fighter looked mature inside the cage and he is improving at a steady pace.

“Aaron Pico is back. He looked great. He had a great knockout, and I thought he was a fighter who had a lot of patience in there. He wasn’t just rushing in, trying to finish. He looked like he took a step forward in his development as an athlete and a mixed martial arts fighter. I think Pico showed me you have to be patient in there and have to work certain things. What I saw was a patient fighter that wasn’t just looking for the one punch knockout, even though he knocked him out in the end."

Coker wants Pico to fight at least twice or thrice before the end of the year and doesn't want to rush him into huge fights until he proves himself against a few more guys.

“I think that we should probably let him rest, but my goal is to have him back soon and maybe have him get another two or three fights before the end of the year. Maybe we can turn him loose at that point and have him fight some of the bigger guys. He has to prove that he can continue improving and rebuilding because, you know, if you’re the same fighter you were a year ago, you’re going to have a hard time. You have to grow, and I saw some growth today, but let’s see how he looks at the end of the year.”