August 16, 2025 • 21 mins
Aaron Pico makes his debut on the Daniel Cormier Check-In series, and also makes his UFC DEBUT against the undefeated, dangerous Lerone Murphy. DC talks to Pico about his nerves heading into this massive co-main event, and what the transition will be like from the PFL. Pico has been extremely vocal about wanting a fight with UFC legend and current champion Alexander Volkanovski, and him and DC get into that matchup and why he HAS TO BE CAREFUL not to overlook Murphy in this fight many believe is a number-one contender battle. Don't miss Aaaron's incredible story of getting into mixed martial arts, competing in wrestling at the Olympics, and how his mother was the push he needed to become a world talent in MMA. Plus, DC talks to Pico about his love for horses when he's not in the octagon fighting.
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Speaker 3 (01:41):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I'm here with Aaron Pico as he gets ready to
make his UFC debut.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Aaron, what's up man? How you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Aaron was just talking to me about a time where
I celebrated like tremendously when he lost as a seven
year old.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
You're old? Are you like nine? Then?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I think I was ten. I remember you would jump
up and down.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
D oh yeah, well yeah, beat my kid ten times prior.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So we got to do yeah, and I was like,
I do not like that guy. I was so pissed
I lost. But it just goes to show you've been
in this wrestling game. Yeah, for a long time. You
were coaching youth wrestling for as long as I can remember.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Well, that was in still that was in Oklahoma, like
two thousand and two and three. Yeah, right, So you
were like, you're a real young kid wrestling, But now
you made it. It's been a long time coming, man, Like,
from the wrestling to the fighting, there was always this
idea that you would be here. When you think about
this journey to get here, I know what's been longer
(02:40):
than you anticipated. But like, how good does it feel
to finally be on the verge of making UFC debut.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
It feels really good to be honest with you, But
I'm really happy on how my career has gone so far.
I mean, I really had to dig deep, and I
really asked myself, is this something that I want to do.
I didn't have an easy path to get here. There
are a lot of moments where I question a few things,
but it was never in my mind to quit. And
(03:10):
I can honestly say I'm twenty eight years old now
and I'm physically and mentally ready for the big stage.
And I'm glad I went did the groundwork and the
other organization to prep me for the biggest organization in
the world. So but yeah, I'm really happy to be here.
He just said, you made it, But in my mind,
I really haven't done anything. The ultimate goals to be
(03:33):
a world champion and defended as many times as I can.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So when we when you started fighting, you started coming
out to San Jose and train it, and you always
were so gamed to fight. But at times that game
has cost you, especially early in your career.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Right, what did you have to change?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Right?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Because you know it's one thing to question when things
are going wrong, but also recognize I've got to change
something and make it different. But still all I want
to keep what makes meet Eric Peicle That aggressive style
you had, like seventeen eighteen years old, were throwing body
punches in the gym and nobody was doing that right,
But ultimately, at times that left you in danger of
(04:11):
being countered, Like, what did you have to change while
staying true to who you are?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Well, the talent was always there, yes, and the drive
was there as well, but there's one thing that you
can't buy, and that's experience. I mean, it's one thing
to go and look good in the gym, but it's
another thing to be in the octagon and do what
you do. So the biggest change I needed to make
was recognizing when to strike and when to wrestle and
blending it all together. So when I met my coaches
(04:40):
in Albuquerque, they really had They had a tough job
to do. I mean they I had the boxing, I
had the wrestling, but let's blend it all together. And
I think I've done that really really well and in
my in my career. And to answer your question, the
biggest thing was just experience.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah, you say you had those momentary You're like, man,
do I really want to do this?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Like?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
How hard was that? Because like I like we talked
about it at the very beginning. I celebrated because you won
so much. And then when you got to high school,
you won so much. And when you wrestled in high
school at the end of your career, you were in
the Olympic Charles Finals and you're beating guys that won
multiple national championships.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You had never dealt with losing. How hard was that
for you.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
A kid that had won his whole life, to deal
with non, this thing's not going like I anticipated. And also, uh,
everybody expected from Aaron Pico from the moment you walked
in this thing. I said he's gonna be a world champion.
So everybody spoke about your greatness even before you had that.
How hard was that to feel? Like God man. For
(05:45):
the first time in my life, I'm losing. And then secondly,
how do I deal with falling short of what expectation
is because that's earned and you had earned it. Well.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I think the biggest thing is what I've learned that
MMA is not wrestling. MMA is not you know, we
come from wrestling, where it's you know, it's pure. You
just enterr a wrestling tournament and the best man win.
And I was used to that. MMA is a whole
different ballgame, as you know, the media, the fans, and
that's something that I had to get used to. And
(06:15):
and I'll just be up front, I had a lot
of my mom is. I'm very close to my mom
and I talked to her almost every day and it's funny.
As a kid, she would always send me motivational quotes
and keep going with time, you know, just like the
cheesy motivational quotes that that when you're young you take
(06:37):
for granted. But really, when I was in my darkest times,
especially with MMA, not knowing can I do this, and
I'd have a lot of conversations with her and you know,
send me motivational quotes and they started to really really
mean something. And I'll tell you what my mom said.
When I'm like, I don't know if I can, if
I can do this, she said, Aaron, grab your fucking
(06:57):
balls and figure it out.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Really. Yeah, Sure, that's the type of mom you want though.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, she said that there is no there's no quit
or well you made destroy this is what you decided
to do.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And a big story that I that I've told before,
but not many people know. This is my mom's an RN.
She's she loves her job. She works with cancer patients
and oncology, and she went to school. She went back
to college really late in her late thirties, and school
was never easy for her, so she failed her first
(07:28):
time in nursing school. And I remember sitting with her
on the kitchen table. She was devastated, crying and crying, crying,
and she said, Aaron, I'm gonna make it to become
a nurse and I'll do whatever I possibly can. And
she did. But I just remember that I think of
stuff like that when having those conversations with her. And
I have a lot of work to do, but my
mom has been a big help for me.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well, now that work starts right, because you did get
it right, you did correct it, and you went and
did what you did towards the end of your belatur
run and you fought so beautifully there. But it was
tough to get out of that contract with the PFL.
Right you're sitting there, you're fighting, you know what you want,
but it's hard to get Was that a harder process
(08:11):
than even the process of losing fights, because now you
know you have the skills when you belong here, but
something else is holding you up.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, contract is. It was really tough for me because
I'm like, I want to fight. I haven't fought in
a year. But I really had a good leg to
stand down given the fact that they counseled four title
fights on me. Yeah, and the contract had expired. They
just wanted to have.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
But when you're like in this deal and publicly like
the other side saying stuff and you're kind of like
just stuck, you can't say nothing.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
That sucks.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah it does, it does, But I didn't really pay
too much attention to it. I controlled what I can
can control, and that was get better and be a father,
ride my horses, and then when the time is right
and when I'm here, I will make the.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Best event for doing that horse dick. Yeah, when do
you start to do that?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Antonio Banderis tovey are you poking?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Antonio Banderris, you got that slick head, now you got
the mustache?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Why the horses?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
When do you start doing that? I said, look at
you beautiful in that or is just a galloping?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
For sure? I want to make it look good, especially
on that's my time to look good for sure.
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Speaker 1 (10:52):
When I started riding horses at a young age, and
my parents never let me have a horse because I
was so involved in wrestling. As you need so I
would take horse lessons on the weekends and and volunteer there.
I go to horse camp every summer. I'd be the
only boy, but I absolutely loved And then when I
I always told my parents when I started making my
own money, the first thing, I'm gonna buys a horse.
(11:13):
After my first fight, I went and bought a horse,
and now I have Yeah, I gotta we gotta start
winning some world championships because their expensive horses aren't cheap.
They are very expensively eating pop money. Basically, you were.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Making money over there too, though, So let's not pretend.
But Laurent Murphy undefeated, one of the highest rateed guys
in the UFC, Aaron, not many guys have come over
and had success recently. Marcus just came over, got beat.
I had no idea he got beat. Marcus got beat
by a dude that beat him so bad that they
(11:46):
cut him.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
The fight was that bad, the winner got cut.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Patri Mix didn't fight to his ability when he got here.
Patricio Pittbull didn't fight to his ability. What you got here,
Michael Chandler's two and five or two and six?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Right now? What are you gonna do different? Right? Because
at this point.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
The expectation is that the guys come over and it's
not the same as coach, coach you tell you when
I when we came here from Shrike Force, guys won, right,
So it was like the Strike Force guys win. The
Belator guys haven't. Like, what are you gonna do to
make sure that you're not on that side? Especially with
a guy like Lauryl Murphy as their pull it, Well,
(12:28):
I can. I don't want to sound cocky or anything
like that. You know, they're all great fighters, but I'm
Aaron Pico.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, it's it's different in my mind, and that is
a concern. I'd be stupid to say, like, yeah, guys
have lost. But Coach Gibson used you as an example,
It used Shike for his days. These guys came over
and they won, and it can be done and it's
possible and you have the skills to do it. So
I I trust my coaches. I I know how I
(13:00):
work and what I know. I can compete with the
best guys in the world. But I'm not one of
those guys that comes over and uh and says, oh, yeah,
I'm gonna do this and do that. No, I know
that this is the best fighting organization in the world.
And I'm not naive. I'm not stupid like I'm just
gonna come in here. I know what I'm gonna do,
but I have to go out there and prove it.
(13:20):
You know, I keep I still keep my mind sharp.
I've taken losses before. I know what it feels like
to lose. And with that being said, I've trained my
ass off, I've dotted every you know, I dot my
eyes and crossed my t's and all I can do
is go go out on Saturday night and do my job.
And if I do that, I feel I'll get my
(13:41):
hand raised.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So Loro Murphy is a guy that he just wins. Right.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It's not always the most fan friendly, even though it's striking,
but he just knows how to create situations where he
always comes out in front. He's fast, he's big, he's explosive,
and he's just a flat winner. How do you approach
that challenge? Whenever you found out it was Look, most
don't want to fight a Loyev because of the wrestling
(14:09):
you that's not an issue, right, So I'm preparing for
another wrestler that gets me excited. It's easier for the
wrestler's bestly one of our caliber. But when you get
a guy like Larn who doesn't seem to have that ability,
but he's just a much better striker and a guy,
it seems very very good overall. Like, what did you
guys make? And I know Coach Gibson is a great coach, right.
(14:29):
I've had to fight him on multiple occasions compete against him,
and I respect him tremendously. But what's the original thought
when you get Larn Murphy now instead of if loyev
and you guys get some tough ass fights when you
first get here, you ain't getting no like easier fights
when you show up.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, it's a good question. I think I'm gonna you're
a wrestler, so you know, But when you watched my
wrestling match against Jordan Oliver, yep, Jordan Oliver is the
best at footwork and he and he's he's he fakes,
he jukes, he can, he's fast. And what I did
was is I put pressure. I just have to you
have to smother him. Of Course, fighting is a little
(15:07):
bit different, and I am aware of that. I can't
just go in there and just go guns blazing, but
I have to smother him. I have to make it basically,
make his life stressful in that that octagon. I can't
you know, Oh, let me show you my footwork and
let's dance. No, it's we gotta make the fight ugly. Well,
when we take him down, we got to bust him
up with elbows. So when he does get up, he's
(15:28):
his uh, his gas, his gas is going a little bit.
The fakes, the jews they are running is a little
bit less. And it's just one of those fights where
you're like, I gotta I gotta fucking go. Yeah, there's
no time to Let's see how good I am and
my striking and let's go tit for tat. Now you
gotta make this fight ugly.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
So, and that excites me because when I make the fight,
when I do fight like that, that means I'm throwing
my punches, I'm throwing my combinations, I'm cutting off the cage,
I'm hitting them hard to the body. You know, when
I take him down, I'm looking at uh, shatter his orbital,
cut him up with elbows, you know, hitting him to
the body and and and just making it ugly.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
So I'm getting fired up.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
But yeah, you're a little sick son of a bitch. Yeah,
you want you a little see sick.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I want to hear that's I heard it. It's fighting though,
it's fighting.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
The people were like, well, it's it's fighting. You gotta
hurt him. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
One time somebody told when somebody said, like, oh, in
a fight, would if you had to take somebody's knee out,
would you do it? I said, yeah, of course, without it,
without a question.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
If you're not willing to do that, then you're not
you're not fighting. Yeah, you shouldn't be a fighter. If
you're not looking to bust orbitals and last raight livers
with punches, then what are you doing? Yeah, because I'm not. Yeah,
we're all respectful, and I'm very respectful. But when I'm
inside that cage, I'm fighting for for for for my son,
my my horse, is for a better life and every
day for everything.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
All those decisions I made as a young kid of
leaving school, uh, not going to certain things, not in
a partying, it all led to me to become a
UFC champion. I say this all the time, and I've
said in an interview that I remember I went on
a field trip when I was like seven years old,
and I had my lettuce, I had my chicken, and
(17:22):
I had my water, and they they had pizza, they
had cupcakes, and the teachers saw I was the only
one with lunch. I said, listen, I can't eat that
stuff because I have Tulsa Nationals in two weeks.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
She said, You're really not gonna eat the pizza and
the cupcakes. I said, no, I'm not gonna eat that
because I have to make weight.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
How did you develop that at such a young age.
Your dad was hard on you too, though, I.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Think I'm gonna I'm gonna clear that. No, my dad wasn't.
He wasn't, no dad. My dad was harder on my
older brother. Yeah. My older brother's four years old.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
But for me, I enjoyed it because I viewed it
so so you're.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Telling me maybe he was tough, but it didn't seem
tough to you, or was he just like not?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Well, it was just never a like. I just it
was just never a question. Do I do I ask
to go to to a friend's house and and and
go to the swimming pool, or do I go to
the boxing club? And my my reasoning was I want
to go to the boxing club because I enjoy that.
I'm going to go to wrestling practice. I have three
pounds to lose, and as a kid, that's three pounds
is tough.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, And I viewed it as a game, like when
I go on way in, Yeah, I'm gonna be thirsty,
but that that that pedia light or whatever I was
drinking at the time is gonna taste so good. So
I viewed it as you know, not many people, I
think basically kind of screwed up like me. Yeah, you know,
yeah at different Being completely honest with you, it's not like, oh,
(18:41):
I've dreamt about this, and this is I've literally done
everything and made decisions when I was a young kid
to get to this moment here, and you're gonna have
to make sacrifices, you know. And and uh, I've got
to enjoy a lot of things in the world and
meet people that not many people get to meet, and
(19:02):
experience things that the normal person, the normal person hasn't
And when it's all said and done, I'm glad I
didn't eat that cupcake or eat that pizza. Yeah at
the on the field trip, Yeah, sum it up.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
So when you step into the Octagonal Saturday night as
we start to wrap this up one, do you believe
that there is a jitter to the octagon? Do you
believe that PATCHI froze up because of the moment? Do
you believe that Patricio froze up because of the moment?
And if you do, how do you ensure that that
(19:34):
doesn't happen? How do you ensure that every when you
walk in there in front of twenty thousand, that you
perform at the rate and at the level that you've
performed that the entirety of your career.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Well, I think it's a mindset, and my mindset is
based on one thing, and that's the mall this guy
and mall him and get my hand raised, and that's
all I'm really focused on. I think it's a mindset
and my mindset is just focused on winning, listening to
my coaches, and it comes with the territory. Now I'm
fighting in Arenas with twenty thousand people and millions of
(20:10):
people watching around the world, and this is what I
signed up to do.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, that's what you signed up to do, guys.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Aaron Picco fights this weekend in the col main event
of UFC three nineteen against Laron Murphy. Go follow Aaron
Pico and everything that he's doing. Make sure you tune in.
He's fantastic. I said something the other day. I said,
I thought that if you didn't quit wrestling at this point,
you'd be Olympic champion. I thought that you, because of
your mentality and your work ethic, would not allow for
anything less than to be the best in the world.
(20:39):
I'm excited about Aaron being here finally, so make sure
you go find him on social and everything else he's doing.
Congratulations kid, Well we gotta shake with the left because
I'm holding with Mike with the right.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Congratulations. I called him a kid because that's what I've
don him to be. He's a grown man now. That
makes his UFC debut. Until next time, Like subscribe, tell
your friends to tell their friends that DC's got a
YouTube Channe, and I'm checking in with guys like Aaron
Peakle who fights this weekend.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Until next time. Peace the volume
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
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and now I'm an.
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Speaker 3 (01:41):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I'm here with Aaron Pico as he gets ready to
make his UFC debut.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Aaron, what's up man? How you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Aaron was just talking to me about a time where
I celebrated like tremendously when he lost as a seven
year old.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
You're old? Are you like nine? Then?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I think I was ten. I remember you would jump
up and down.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
D oh yeah, well yeah, beat my kid ten times prior.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So we got to do yeah, and I was like,
I do not like that guy. I was so pissed
I lost. But it just goes to show you've been
in this wrestling game. Yeah, for a long time. You
were coaching youth wrestling for as long as I can remember.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Well, that was in still that was in Oklahoma, like
two thousand and two and three. Yeah, right, So you
were like, you're a real young kid wrestling, But now
you made it. It's been a long time coming, man, Like,
from the wrestling to the fighting, there was always this
idea that you would be here. When you think about
this journey to get here, I know what's been longer
(02:40):
than you anticipated. But like, how good does it feel
to finally be on the verge of making UFC debut.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
It feels really good to be honest with you, But
I'm really happy on how my career has gone so far.
I mean, I really had to dig deep, and I
really asked myself, is this something that I want to do.
I didn't have an easy path to get here. There
are a lot of moments where I question a few things,
but it was never in my mind to quit. And
(03:10):
I can honestly say I'm twenty eight years old now
and I'm physically and mentally ready for the big stage.
And I'm glad I went did the groundwork and the
other organization to prep me for the biggest organization in
the world. So but yeah, I'm really happy to be here.
He just said, you made it, But in my mind,
I really haven't done anything. The ultimate goals to be
(03:33):
a world champion and defended as many times as I can.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So when we when you started fighting, you started coming
out to San Jose and train it, and you always
were so gamed to fight. But at times that game
has cost you, especially early in your career.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Right, what did you have to change?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Right?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Because you know it's one thing to question when things
are going wrong, but also recognize I've got to change
something and make it different. But still all I want
to keep what makes meet Eric Peicle That aggressive style
you had, like seventeen eighteen years old, were throwing body
punches in the gym and nobody was doing that right,
But ultimately, at times that left you in danger of
(04:11):
being countered, Like, what did you have to change while
staying true to who you are?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Well, the talent was always there, yes, and the drive
was there as well, but there's one thing that you
can't buy, and that's experience. I mean, it's one thing
to go and look good in the gym, but it's
another thing to be in the octagon and do what
you do. So the biggest change I needed to make
was recognizing when to strike and when to wrestle and
blending it all together. So when I met my coaches
(04:40):
in Albuquerque, they really had They had a tough job
to do. I mean they I had the boxing, I
had the wrestling, but let's blend it all together. And
I think I've done that really really well and in
my in my career. And to answer your question, the
biggest thing was just experience.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah, you say you had those momentary You're like, man,
do I really want to do this?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Like?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
How hard was that? Because like I like we talked
about it at the very beginning. I celebrated because you won
so much. And then when you got to high school,
you won so much. And when you wrestled in high
school at the end of your career, you were in
the Olympic Charles Finals and you're beating guys that won
multiple national championships.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You had never dealt with losing. How hard was that
for you.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
A kid that had won his whole life, to deal
with non, this thing's not going like I anticipated. And also, uh,
everybody expected from Aaron Pico from the moment you walked
in this thing. I said he's gonna be a world champion.
So everybody spoke about your greatness even before you had that.
How hard was that to feel? Like God man. For
(05:45):
the first time in my life, I'm losing. And then secondly,
how do I deal with falling short of what expectation
is because that's earned and you had earned it. Well.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I think the biggest thing is what I've learned that
MMA is not wrestling. MMA is not you know, we
come from wrestling, where it's you know, it's pure. You
just enterr a wrestling tournament and the best man win.
And I was used to that. MMA is a whole
different ballgame, as you know, the media, the fans, and
that's something that I had to get used to. And
(06:15):
and I'll just be up front, I had a lot
of my mom is. I'm very close to my mom
and I talked to her almost every day and it's funny.
As a kid, she would always send me motivational quotes
and keep going with time, you know, just like the
cheesy motivational quotes that that when you're young you take
(06:37):
for granted. But really, when I was in my darkest times,
especially with MMA, not knowing can I do this, and
I'd have a lot of conversations with her and you know,
send me motivational quotes and they started to really really
mean something. And I'll tell you what my mom said.
When I'm like, I don't know if I can, if
I can do this, she said, Aaron, grab your fucking
(06:57):
balls and figure it out.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Really. Yeah, Sure, that's the type of mom you want though.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, she said that there is no there's no quit
or well you made destroy this is what you decided
to do.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And a big story that I that I've told before,
but not many people know. This is my mom's an RN.
She's she loves her job. She works with cancer patients
and oncology, and she went to school. She went back
to college really late in her late thirties, and school
was never easy for her, so she failed her first
(07:28):
time in nursing school. And I remember sitting with her
on the kitchen table. She was devastated, crying and crying, crying,
and she said, Aaron, I'm gonna make it to become
a nurse and I'll do whatever I possibly can. And
she did. But I just remember that I think of
stuff like that when having those conversations with her. And
I have a lot of work to do, but my
mom has been a big help for me.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well, now that work starts right, because you did get
it right, you did correct it, and you went and
did what you did towards the end of your belatur
run and you fought so beautifully there. But it was
tough to get out of that contract with the PFL.
Right you're sitting there, you're fighting, you know what you want,
but it's hard to get Was that a harder process
(08:11):
than even the process of losing fights, because now you
know you have the skills when you belong here, but
something else is holding you up.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, contract is. It was really tough for me because
I'm like, I want to fight. I haven't fought in
a year. But I really had a good leg to
stand down given the fact that they counseled four title
fights on me. Yeah, and the contract had expired. They
just wanted to have.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
But when you're like in this deal and publicly like
the other side saying stuff and you're kind of like
just stuck, you can't say nothing.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
That sucks.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah it does, it does, But I didn't really pay
too much attention to it. I controlled what I can
can control, and that was get better and be a father,
ride my horses, and then when the time is right
and when I'm here, I will make the.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Best event for doing that horse dick. Yeah, when do
you start to do that?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
You?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Antonio Banderis tovey are you poking?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Antonio Banderris, you got that slick head, now you got
the mustache?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Why the horses?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
When do you start doing that? I said, look at
you beautiful in that or is just a galloping?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
For sure? I want to make it look good, especially
on that's my time to look good for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
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Speaker 1 (10:52):
When I started riding horses at a young age, and
my parents never let me have a horse because I
was so involved in wrestling. As you need so I
would take horse lessons on the weekends and and volunteer there.
I go to horse camp every summer. I'd be the
only boy, but I absolutely loved And then when I
I always told my parents when I started making my
own money, the first thing, I'm gonna buys a horse.
(11:13):
After my first fight, I went and bought a horse,
and now I have Yeah, I gotta we gotta start
winning some world championships because their expensive horses aren't cheap.
They are very expensively eating pop money. Basically, you were.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Making money over there too, though, So let's not pretend.
But Laurent Murphy undefeated, one of the highest rateed guys
in the UFC, Aaron, not many guys have come over
and had success recently. Marcus just came over, got beat.
I had no idea he got beat. Marcus got beat
by a dude that beat him so bad that they
(11:46):
cut him.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
The fight was that bad, the winner got cut.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Patri Mix didn't fight to his ability when he got here.
Patricio Pittbull didn't fight to his ability. What you got here,
Michael Chandler's two and five or two and six?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Right now? What are you gonna do different? Right? Because
at this point.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
The expectation is that the guys come over and it's
not the same as coach, coach you tell you when
I when we came here from Shrike Force, guys won, right,
So it was like the Strike Force guys win. The
Belator guys haven't. Like, what are you gonna do to
make sure that you're not on that side? Especially with
a guy like Lauryl Murphy as their pull it, Well,
(12:28):
I can. I don't want to sound cocky or anything
like that. You know, they're all great fighters, but I'm
Aaron Pico.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Yeah, it's it's different in my mind, and that is
a concern. I'd be stupid to say, like, yeah, guys
have lost. But Coach Gibson used you as an example,
It used Shike for his days. These guys came over
and they won, and it can be done and it's
possible and you have the skills to do it. So
I I trust my coaches. I I know how I
(13:00):
work and what I know. I can compete with the
best guys in the world. But I'm not one of
those guys that comes over and uh and says, oh, yeah,
I'm gonna do this and do that. No, I know
that this is the best fighting organization in the world.
And I'm not naive. I'm not stupid like I'm just
gonna come in here. I know what I'm gonna do,
but I have to go out there and prove it.
(13:20):
You know, I keep I still keep my mind sharp.
I've taken losses before. I know what it feels like
to lose. And with that being said, I've trained my
ass off, I've dotted every you know, I dot my
eyes and crossed my t's and all I can do
is go go out on Saturday night and do my job.
And if I do that, I feel I'll get my
(13:41):
hand raised.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So Loro Murphy is a guy that he just wins. Right.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It's not always the most fan friendly, even though it's striking,
but he just knows how to create situations where he
always comes out in front. He's fast, he's big, he's explosive,
and he's just a flat winner. How do you approach
that challenge? Whenever you found out it was Look, most
don't want to fight a Loyev because of the wrestling
(14:09):
you that's not an issue, right, So I'm preparing for
another wrestler that gets me excited. It's easier for the
wrestler's bestly one of our caliber. But when you get
a guy like Larn who doesn't seem to have that ability,
but he's just a much better striker and a guy,
it seems very very good overall. Like, what did you
guys make? And I know Coach Gibson is a great coach, right.
(14:29):
I've had to fight him on multiple occasions compete against him,
and I respect him tremendously. But what's the original thought
when you get Larn Murphy now instead of if loyev
and you guys get some tough ass fights when you
first get here, you ain't getting no like easier fights
when you show up.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, it's a good question. I think I'm gonna you're
a wrestler, so you know, But when you watched my
wrestling match against Jordan Oliver, yep, Jordan Oliver is the
best at footwork and he and he's he's he fakes,
he jukes, he can, he's fast. And what I did
was is I put pressure. I just have to you
have to smother him. Of Course, fighting is a little
(15:07):
bit different, and I am aware of that. I can't
just go in there and just go guns blazing, but
I have to smother him. I have to make it basically,
make his life stressful in that that octagon. I can't
you know, Oh, let me show you my footwork and
let's dance. No, it's we gotta make the fight ugly. Well,
when we take him down, we got to bust him
up with elbows. So when he does get up, he's
(15:28):
his uh, his gas, his gas is going a little bit.
The fakes, the jews they are running is a little
bit less. And it's just one of those fights where
you're like, I gotta I gotta fucking go. Yeah, there's
no time to Let's see how good I am and
my striking and let's go tit for tat. Now you
gotta make this fight ugly.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
So, and that excites me because when I make the fight,
when I do fight like that, that means I'm throwing
my punches, I'm throwing my combinations, I'm cutting off the cage,
I'm hitting them hard to the body. You know, when
I take him down, I'm looking at uh, shatter his orbital,
cut him up with elbows, you know, hitting him to
the body and and and just making it ugly.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
So I'm getting fired up.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
But yeah, you're a little sick son of a bitch. Yeah,
you want you a little see sick.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I want to hear that's I heard it. It's fighting though,
it's fighting.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
The people were like, well, it's it's fighting. You gotta
hurt him. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
One time somebody told when somebody said, like, oh, in
a fight, would if you had to take somebody's knee out,
would you do it? I said, yeah, of course, without it,
without a question.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
If you're not willing to do that, then you're not
you're not fighting. Yeah, you shouldn't be a fighter. If
you're not looking to bust orbitals and last raight livers
with punches, then what are you doing? Yeah, because I'm not. Yeah,
we're all respectful, and I'm very respectful. But when I'm
inside that cage, I'm fighting for for for for my son,
my my horse, is for a better life and every
day for everything.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
All those decisions I made as a young kid of
leaving school, uh, not going to certain things, not in
a partying, it all led to me to become a
UFC champion. I say this all the time, and I've
said in an interview that I remember I went on
a field trip when I was like seven years old,
and I had my lettuce, I had my chicken, and
(17:22):
I had my water, and they they had pizza, they
had cupcakes, and the teachers saw I was the only
one with lunch. I said, listen, I can't eat that
stuff because I have Tulsa Nationals in two weeks.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
She said, You're really not gonna eat the pizza and
the cupcakes. I said, no, I'm not gonna eat that
because I have to make weight.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
How did you develop that at such a young age.
Your dad was hard on you too, though, I.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Think I'm gonna I'm gonna clear that. No, my dad wasn't.
He wasn't, no dad. My dad was harder on my
older brother. Yeah. My older brother's four years old.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
But for me, I enjoyed it because I viewed it
so so you're.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Telling me maybe he was tough, but it didn't seem
tough to you, or was he just like not?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Well, it was just never a like. I just it
was just never a question. Do I do I ask
to go to to a friend's house and and and
go to the swimming pool, or do I go to
the boxing club? And my my reasoning was I want
to go to the boxing club because I enjoy that.
I'm going to go to wrestling practice. I have three
pounds to lose, and as a kid, that's three pounds
is tough.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, And I viewed it as a game, like when
I go on way in, Yeah, I'm gonna be thirsty,
but that that that pedia light or whatever I was
drinking at the time is gonna taste so good. So
I viewed it as you know, not many people, I
think basically kind of screwed up like me. Yeah, you know,
yeah at different Being completely honest with you, it's not like, oh,
(18:41):
I've dreamt about this, and this is I've literally done
everything and made decisions when I was a young kid
to get to this moment here, and you're gonna have
to make sacrifices, you know. And and uh, I've got
to enjoy a lot of things in the world and
meet people that not many people get to meet, and
(19:02):
experience things that the normal person, the normal person hasn't
And when it's all said and done, I'm glad I
didn't eat that cupcake or eat that pizza. Yeah at
the on the field trip, Yeah, sum it up.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
So when you step into the Octagonal Saturday night as
we start to wrap this up one, do you believe
that there is a jitter to the octagon? Do you
believe that PATCHI froze up because of the moment? Do
you believe that Patricio froze up because of the moment?
And if you do, how do you ensure that that
(19:34):
doesn't happen? How do you ensure that every when you
walk in there in front of twenty thousand, that you
perform at the rate and at the level that you've
performed that the entirety of your career.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Well, I think it's a mindset, and my mindset is
based on one thing, and that's the mall this guy
and mall him and get my hand raised, and that's
all I'm really focused on. I think it's a mindset
and my mindset is just focused on winning, listening to
my coaches, and it comes with the territory. Now I'm
fighting in Arenas with twenty thousand people and millions of
(20:10):
people watching around the world, and this is what I
signed up to do.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, that's what you signed up to do, guys.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Aaron Picco fights this weekend in the col main event
of UFC three nineteen against Laron Murphy. Go follow Aaron
Pico and everything that he's doing. Make sure you tune in.
He's fantastic. I said something the other day. I said,
I thought that if you didn't quit wrestling at this point,
you'd be Olympic champion. I thought that you, because of
your mentality and your work ethic, would not allow for
anything less than to be the best in the world.
(20:39):
I'm excited about Aaron being here finally, so make sure
you go find him on social and everything else he's doing.
Congratulations kid, Well we gotta shake with the left because
I'm holding with Mike with the right.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Congratulations. I called him a kid because that's what I've
don him to be. He's a grown man now. That
makes his UFC debut. Until next time, Like subscribe, tell
your friends to tell their friends that DC's got a
YouTube Channe, and I'm checking in with guys like Aaron
Peakle who fights this weekend.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Until next time. Peace the volume
Host
Daniel Cormier
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