Henry Cejudo Predicts Future Title Glory for Aaron Pico With One Major Caveat
Henry Cejudo breaks down the exact technical shift that proved Aaron Pico is finally ready to fulfill his legendary potential and claim UFC gold.
UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi was headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev. “The Great” secured a brutal TKO victory at 4:54 of the second round. But his performance wasn’t even the quickest of the night.
On the main card, fellow featherweight Aaron Pico stole the show by defeating Losene Keita in just 74 seconds. His spectacular knockout drew a massive reaction from former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.
Henry Cejudo Predicts Aaron Pico Will Win UFC Title After UFC 333 Finish
The 39-year-old Olympic gold medalist took to Instagram to post a detailed breakdown of the fight, noting that the win showed significant growth for the 30-year-old featherweight contender. However, Cejudo added one major caveat to Pico’s championship aspirations, warning that he must stick to his newly discovered discipline.
"A patient Aaron Pico will become world champion," Cejudo said. "A lot of people are not seeing the patience that this guy has. It's something that he's always damn needed, but a lot of people are not talking about a little bit of what he did against the cage to be able to soften his opponent up. First, he started to wrestle, then all of a sudden, he was using his chain wrestling."
According to Cejudo, the fight changed instantly when Pico broke the clinch and landed a clean left hook. He added, "But I'm going to tell you what people did not see. This was the beginning of the end: It was that crazy left hook. How is it that he was able to catch his opponent? He had him against the cage, but it was right here: As he released, boom! That left hook struck, and you can tell his opponent was wobbly."
This growth is a major shift for Pico. In his UFC debut at UFC 319, Lerone Murphy knocked him out in the first round with a spinning elbow. That setback forced Pico to continue refining his approach. He showcased his high-level skills at UFC 327, where he defeated former Bellator champion Patrício Freire by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
In Abu Dhabi, he was originally set to face Arnold Allen before facing short-notice replacement Losene Keita. Following his spectacular first-round finish, Pico moves to 15-5 overall (2-1 in the UFC) and officially cracks the featherweight Top 10. Thanks to his newly discovered discipline, Pico's fight IQ is finally matching his legendary athletic ceiling.
