Aaron Pico Needed 74 Seconds — Then He Called Out the Whole Division
Event: UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev — October 24, 2026, Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi
Image credit: UFC.com
Some fighters need a post-fight interview to make their point. Aaron Pico needed 74 seconds and one very good rant.
The main-card opener at UFC 333 was supposed to be a test. Pico, the former Bellator star still rebuilding after a knockout loss in his UFC debut, against Losene Keita, the short-notice replacement for the injured Arnold Allen. [1][2] It lasted 1:14 of the first round.
The 74 seconds
Pico opened with a takedown, went back to his wrestling roots, and then did what he does best. A right hand wobbled Keita, a second one dropped him, and Pico finished with punches on the ground until referee Lukasz Bosacki stepped in. [1][2]
Keita complained about the stoppage afterwards, but as Bloody Elbow noted, he was not intelligently defending himself at the time. [2] The official result is a first-round TKO, Pico's first finish inside the Octagon and his second straight UFC win. [1][3]
MMA Fighting's roundup of the reaction tells you how the division heard it: fellow fighters praising the wrestling and the power, and one slide asking whether Pico is now the dark horse of the featherweight division. [4] The same carousel carries his post-fight quote in full: "I want to fight for a title. If that can't happen I want a rematch with Lerone Murphy." [4]
The rant
Then Pico turned on the rest of the rankings. Speaking to Daniel Cormier in the cage, he called the featherweights who refuse fights "rankings squatters" — fighters who, in his words, "just squat there and stay there" — and said they should be benched for a year. [1]
It is easy to laugh that off as post-fight adrenaline. It lands differently when you remember the context. Pico's UFC debut ended in a spinning back elbow knockout loss to Lerone Murphy at UFC 319 in August 2025. [3] He has since beaten Patricio Freire by decision and now Keita by stoppage. [1] The rematch call is not random. It is the one loss he wants back, from the one man standing between him and the title picture.
And Pico himself sounded almost relaxed about the whole thing afterwards. He told Sherdog he had not been chasing a quick finish, that the longer a fight goes the more he enjoys it, and that he was simply happy to get home early — he had a flight to catch in a few hours. [5] The new patience, he said, comes from adopting a beginner's mentality after the Murphy defeat. [5]
Where the numbers land
Pico 15-5, two straight UFC wins, one finish. Keita 17-3, now 1-2 in the UFC. [1] The main event that followed — Volkanovski's second-round finish of Evloev — is covered in our UFC 333 fallout roundup, and the complete card is on the UFC 333 event page.
Seventy-four seconds, one rant, and suddenly the featherweight division has a problem it cannot ignore. The squatters have been named.
Sources
1. MMA Junkie — UFC 333 results: Aaron Pico finishes Losene Keita in 74 seconds
2. Bloody Elbow — Watch Aaron Pico knock out Losene Keita in 74 seconds at UFC 333
3. Yardbarker — Watch Aaron Pico knock out Losene Keita in 74 seconds at UFC 333
4. MMA Fighting on Instagram — Aaron Pico UFC 333 reaction roundup (posted Oct 24, 2026)
5. Sherdog — Aaron Pico's new patience pays off with 74-second UFC 333 stoppage
Fight data compiled from public statistical sources (ufcstats.com) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). OctagonStats is an independent database, not affiliated with UFC / TKO Group.