At Bellator 286 Aaron Pico was faced off against fellow featherweight Jeremy Kennedy, as he attempted to take his winning streak to six in a row.
But what happened in between rounds one and two is something you hope will not see again in the sport. It was obvious that Pico had dislocated his shoulder in round one, and during the break between rounds, his team was seen aggressively trying to jerk his shoulder back into place.
The on-hand doctors did decide to stop the fight, so Kennedy was given the TKO victory.
How the medical world reacted to Aaron Pico’s arm dislocation
Sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer gave his thoughts on Aaron Pico’s corner attempting to pop his arm back in place.
“This was one of the wildest things I’ve seen in any sport,” Sutterer said. “I got to give Pico credit, he is mad tough. I’ve dislocated my shoulder a couple of times and this is extremely painful, so extreme credit to try to get back out there.“
“But if you attempt to reduce a joint in an incorrect way, and in such a violent manner, while your intent is good, you can actually do some pretty significant harm to that individual’s joint.”
“It’s important to reduce it the right way, because there’s a lot of surrounding structures — particularly nerves and blood vessels — that can become injured, not only when you dislocate a joint, but if you try to attempt reduction in an ineffective way.” (Quotes via Bloody Elbow).
David Abbasi an Orthopedic sports surgeon also gave his opinion on the matter.
“Although I give him an A for effort, this is absolutely the wrong way to try and pop in an acute shoulder dislocation. Because you want to think about it as a slow, steady type of pull instead of these violent jerks.“
