Aaron Pico has a list, and Lerone Murphy’s name is circled in red. Speaking to MMA Fighting after he knocked out Losene Keita at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 24, the featherweight said he’d love to run back the only loss of his UFC career. He also made it clear that he isn’t going to sit around waiting for a specific dance partner.
“I know I can beat him,” Pico told MMA Junkie, as BJPenn.com relayed. In that same interview he described the first fight like this: “obviously, you watch the fight, I was beating him up. I would have just been a little bit smarter and would have gotten that win.”
He went further with MMA Fighting and said Murphy “got very, very lucky,” though Pico was quick to add that he holds no hard feelings toward the Englishman beyond the fact that Murphy beat him.
View post on X
How we got here
Murphy knocked Pico out in his octagon debut at UFC 319 last year. That was a rough welcome for the former Bellator fighter, who arrived with a lot of hype. He’s rebuilt since then. The Keita win was a vicious first-round knockout that moved Pico to 2-1 in the UFC, and the matchup itself came with a twist. He had been scheduled to face Arnold Allen at UFC 333 and ended up across from Keita, a top prospect with just two UFC fights on his résumé. On paper that’s high risk and low reward. Pico shrugged and took it anyway.
Murphy is coming off a tight loss to Movsar Evloev earlier this year. Pico still pointed out that Murphy is top five in the world, which is the real appeal here. A win over him gets Pico closer to a title shot and also scratches the revenge itch.
Murphy isn’t the only name on the board, either. Pico said he’ll be watching Aljamain Sterling vs. Kevin Vallejos closely, and if both men come through healthy, he could see himself fighting the winner. Beyond that, his answer was basically anybody ranked above him.
He also took a shot at fighters who use their ranking to turn down opponents. Pico said he leaves the matchmaking to his manager and told MMA Fighting that he doesn’t really look at the numbers next to anyone’s name. Then came the line that wrote the headlines: “I really don’t give a sh*t.” He tells his family that when he’s 60 and sitting in a rocking chair at his ranch, he wants to be able to say he fought whoever they threw at him. Pico called himself a beginner, admitted camps still make him a little nervous, and said that if he keeps this mindset, the belt will come sooner rather than later.
Quick take
I love this version of Pico. He takes the Keita fight nobody would blame him for skipping, goes out and starches the guy, and then publicly calls the ranking hoarders soft. That’s the right energy. Saying Murphy “got very, very lucky” is going to land in Manchester like a thrown chair, though, and Pico is 2-1 talking to a guy who knocked him cold. You don’t get to call a KO luck until you’ve won the rematch. The Sterling vs. Vallejos winner is the smarter next step, because beating either of those guys turns a Murphy rematch from a grudge request into a title eliminator. Then Pico gets to say whatever he wants.
