LONG BEACH, Calif. – Jeremy Kennedy’s most recent win in the Bellator cage came in an unexpected manner.
The bantamweight contender took on standout Aaron Pico on the main card at Bellator 286 on Saturday. Kennedy (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) got his hand raised, but it was a shoulder injury by Pico that ultimately gave Kennedy the TKO win.
It was a bizarre scene. Pico continually triedd to pop his shoulder back into place mid-fight, and even at the end of Round 1, when he was in his corner getting ready for the second, he was trying to pop his shoulder back in with the help of his coach. Pico couldn’t recover, though, and the doctor officiating the bout didn’t allow him to continue fighting.
Kennedy witnessed everything first hand.
“I was just focused on that first round getting that finish, and I can kind of tell that the mat returns were getting easier and easier, and he was giving less resistance,” Kennedy said at the Bellator 286 post-fight press conference. “I thought maybe something was up, but I didn’t know. He didn’t say anything, and he’s still fighting.
“But that’s my position. I get the back and I try to be really sticky with it. So I didn’t really give him much of an option to fight out. I had the body lock and I knew I was going to be there for the round unless I got the choke.
“In between rounds, I wasn’t really focusing on him. My coach grabbed me, and he’s like, ‘Hey, listen. This is what we have to do.’ And then I kind of looked over his shoulder and I saw him reefing on his arm, and I was like, ‘Oh damn. This isn’t going to go.’
“It looked like they got it sorted out, and I thought maybe that’s a problem they’ve had in the past, and it’s just a simple pop in, and he’s good to go again. I was ready to go guns blazing at him. … I was expecting a fight when I stoop off the stool. I was expecting a second round because I thought they had fixed it or figured it out. Unfortunate, honestly. You can’t control anything, especially with shoulders.”
Regardless of the nature of the result, it’s still an official win for Kennedy, who’s now on a two-fight winning streak.
Kennedy hopes to return early next year to the Bellator cage, and he wants former title challenger Pedro Carvalho next.
“The only thing announced outside the rest of the year, it’s that February card. I’ve had a lot of history with Pedro (Carvalho), so that’s the one I’m gunning for. I just talked to (matchmaker) Mike (Kogan). He loved the idea. Pedro is probably sitting there shuttering in Ireland, wishing he didn’t send out those tweets. But it is what it is. Now he has to back that up.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 286.
