- Bellator MMA's most recent show was a wild, chaotic affair.
- There was an accidental leg break. One fighter later tried to pop a dislocated shoulder into place.
A fighter trying to pop his dislocated shoulder into place, an accidental leg break, and a headlining athlete shouting "fuck you" to a booing crowd encapsulated a wild Bellator MMA event Saturday in Long Beach, California.
It all began at the very start of the show when Cee Jay Hamilton and Richard Palencia fought a bantamweight bout that was called off early when Palencia suffered a gruesome leg injury 12 seconds into the second round.
As we've seen a few times in mixed martial arts in the modern era, Hamilton defended one of Palencia's leg kicks and, when the fighter re-set, his bone buckled from beneath him and broke.
Hamilton won on account of Palencia being unable to continue.
Watch the shin-on-shin action right here:
—BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 1, 2022
Palencia was then taken out of the arena on a stretcher to receive further medical attention.
But some way, somehow, it didn't even seem to be the wildest moment of the night. The Bellator 286 event, really, was just getting started.
In one of the main card bouts broadcast on premium US network Showtime, Aaron Pico was matched with Jeremy Kennedy in a featherweight fight.
Pico showed extraordinary toughness in Kennedy fight
Bellator boss Scott Coker had long touted Pico as a standout talent during numerous interviews with Insider through the years, however, the prospect's rise through the ranks hit the skids when he lost his sixth and seventh fights.
This forced a considerable rebuild from 2020 to 2022. Pico developed his skills, tallied wins, and became a threat once again.
With those wins, Pico was on the rise once again and on the cusp of forcing a Bellator title fight.
But few could have predicted what lay in store for Pico in the Kennedy fight, as the American fighter suffered a dislocated shoulder and could be seen trying to pop it back into place in the middle of battle.
—BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 2, 2022
Even Pico's corner tried to reset the shoulder when they had a minute's respite.
The footage below looks nothing short of gnarly, and yet Pico barely grimaces.
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 2, 2022
Ultimately, the fight was stopped shortly after this, as the referee waved the bout off before a second round could even start.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Pico said his shoulder was "still a little sore."
He said he thinks the injury happened around 30 seconds into the fight when he "threw a hook" and felt his shoulder pop out.
Regarding his coach, Brandan Gibson, yanking his arm around in the clip above, Pico said: "Keep in mind, guys, he's not an expert, he's not a chiropractor, he doesn't know how to put shoulders back into place — my orders to him were, 'Hey, my shoulder's out, do whatever you possibly can to put it back into place.'
"So we tried everything, and we couldn't do it, and ultimately the fight was stopped, which was probably the smartest thing.
"I was rushed to the hospital and put it back into place."
Pico finished his statement by saying he "will be champion one day."
Watch the clip right here:
Pitbull shouts 'fuck you' to booing crowd
In the main event, Patricio "Pitbull" Freire dominated his featherweight opponent Adam Borics with scores of 48-27, 49-46, and 50-45 but was booed by a crowd that wanted more — like the chaotic war A.J. McKee and Spike Carlyle had engaged in, in the co-main event.
"Why are you booing me?" Pitbull said to the crowd during a post-fight interview.
"I'm the fucking champion," said the 35-year-old, whom Coker has called one of the greatest Bellator fighters of all time.
"I'm the fucking GOAT," he added. "Fuck you, everyone."
Bellator MMA returns with its next event on October 29 at the Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, Italy.
Adam Piccolotti headlines in a lightweight match against Mansour Barnaoui.