Pico makes up for debut loss ...
Aaron PicoPico's second Bellator fight went much better than his first. He redeemed himself at Bellator 183, picking up "a highlight-reel knockout in the opening round," to quote MMAJunkie.com.
Pico -- a high school state wrestling champ who made it to the finals of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials -- knocked Justin Linn out cold with "a picture-perfect left hook" at 3:45 of Round 1, for the 21-year-old's first victory of his MMA career.
Another wrestler-turned-emerging MMA star, Penn State three-time NCAA champ Ed Ruth, weighed in on Pico's performance, tweeting, "With a nasty left hook, Aaron Pico has a stun gun in his knuckles. Congrats on the win!!!"
That knockout blow is no surprise, given that Pico also has an amateur boxing background, having won a National Junior Golden Gloves title in 2009.
With the win, Pico is now 1-1 in his young MMA career ... while Linn drops to 7-4 overall, and 0-1 in Bellator competition.
... while Henderson comes up short
Benson Henderson, former UFC lightweight champ and two-time NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) All-American wrestler for Nebraska's Dana College, fell to Patricky "Pitbull" Freire in his second straight split-decision loss. The three judges scored the three-round bout 29-28, 29-26, and 30-28 for Freire. (The official scoring mirrors that of Sherdog.com's three MMA experts, who, in their live coverage, scored the fight 30-27 Friere, 30-27 Henderson, and 30-28 Fiere.)
To reinforce the idea that the Henderson-Friere bout was close, MMAJunkie.com used the phrase "chess match" in the headline for its coverage of the Bellator 183 main event ... and, in the text of the article, said it was "a fight that frequently dipped into a tactical stalemate." Sherdog.com reported, "Neither man did much to warrant the judges' favor."
"Freire had a tough time getting inside to land punches on the southpaw Henderson, who proved an elusive target as he sniped to the body with kicks," according to MMAJunkie.com. "Takedown attempts from Henderson in the second and third rounds ate up a sizable chunk of time as Freire wrestled to stay upright."
With the win, Freire improves to 18-8-0, while Henderson, 33, who has fought professionally since 2006, drops to 24-8-0 overall, and 1-3 since moving from UFC to Bellator.
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