Aaron Pico (12-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was entering his sophomore UFC appearance Saturday night at UFC 327 inside Miami’s Kaseya Center in search of his first UFC win. Back in August of last year, Pico made his first walk to the fabled Octagon against Lerone Murphy (17-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC.)

Aaron Pico’s first UFC appearance didn’t go well, with Murphy scoring a first-round knockout (spinning back elbow.) Pico, an alumnus of the late Bellator MMA, touched down in the Sunshine State for a contest with Patricio Pitbull (37-9 MMA, 1-2 UFC) during the evening’s undercard.

This contest went the advertised 15 minutes with Pico securing the victory by way of unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) on the scorecards. The result was a rarity for Aaron Pico, as Saturday’s contest at UFC 327 is just the second that had to be scored by the judges in his pro career.

Aaron Pico on Getting First UFC Victory at UFC 327

Following the fight, the victorious Pico met with the media backstage at Kaseya Center. He mentioned the difficulties of the training camp leading into his fight with Pitbull inside the fabled Octagon.

“It’s been a hard three and a half months,” Aaron Pico began. “Obviously, with a big loss like my last one in Chicago, it played some mental tricks on me, but I’m just really happy. It was a hard, hard training camp. I had a lot of good kickboxers and grapplers. I knew I was capable of what I did tonight.”

“I just had to stay patient and show it, and I did it tonight,” he continued. “So I’m excited.”

Pico’s Thoughts on Training Camp Continued

When asked to expand on his thoughts about the difficulties of his camp for Saturday night’s contest, he mentioned that his coaches, led by Greg and Brandon Gibson, traveled with him to Morocco for training.

“To be the best fighter in the world, you have to train with guys that are better than you in some areas, whether it’s kickboxing, grappling, all-around things,” he said. “My coaches are great. I worked a lot with coach Roberto Barreiro, who’s in Morocco. I’m just very thankful for His Majesty, King Muhammad VI, [for] allowing me to do my camp in Morocco. We brought in the best guys and I’m very thankful for His Majesty for helping me.”

Pico also expressed relief that he put his defeat from last August behind him on Saturday night.

“We put together a great training camp and we got the victory,” he mentioned.

Aaron Pico on Khamzat Chimaev’s Bid to Defend Middleweight Gold at UFC 328

The next UFC flagship event happens on the evening before the Mother’s Day holiday in the United States, May 9. That evening, Prudential Center in Newark, NJ will serve as the backdrop for UFC 328.

In the UFC 328 main event, the UFC Middleweight Championship will be defended when current titlist Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) puts his strap at risk for the first time against challenger and No. 3 contender Sean Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC.) Aaron Pico trained with Chimaev ahead of this past weekend’s fight vs. Pitbull and was asked about the May 9 tilt.

“I think Khamzat’s going to win, and I’m rooting for him,” Pico said before clearing his throat. “One thing I like being around Khamzat is he’s just a guy that works hard. I mean, he just goes and does his job. He loves what he does, he’s very intense when he does his workouts. When I’m in there with him, we’re pushing each other. I’ve said it time and time again, he’s a very humble guy.”

Final Thoughts

Whether the topic of discussion is his win at UFC 327 over the weekend or his rapport with Khamzat Chimaev, there’s one certainty: Aaron Pico approached both subjects with the class befitting a deserving victor. This is a man who’s proven to be entertaining in fights more often than not.

While that’s no doubt an important skill, what’s of equal relevance is the manner in which a victorious fighter conducts himself at the podium. Too often, we see fighters go for explosive responses to questions from journalists on press row to generate clicks on social media and views on video-sharing websites.

Aaron Pico conducted himself with the highest decorum over the weekend. At the end of the day, that’s really worth the applause of the fans.