Aaron Pico’s Bellator 286 fight with Jeremy Kennedy turned into a desperate attempt to stay in the fight after a horrific shoulder injury occurred in the first round of the main card fight.
Pico could be seen trying to fix his shoulder mid-fight, and his corners including Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson also went to work on the injury, pulling and tweaking it to try and get the 26-year-old back to somewhat normal.
It didn’t take the cageside doctor long to conclude that something was very wrong with Pico’s shoulder. The doctor could be heard speculating that Pico had suffered a broken clavicle. Pico protested and said he could fight, but the doctor didn’t agree and called off the fight at 5:00 of the first round.
Veteran MMA photographer Esther Lin was cageside at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and caught the sequence that led to the injury TKO stoppage. The photos can be seen below.
