Jeremy Kennedy explains why he wants Pedro Carvalho next, says he’s open to rematch with Aaron Pico in the future

Jeremy Kennedy isn’t sure what to take away from his Bellator 286 win over Aaron Pico.

Early on in the fight, Pico threw a punch that dislocated his shoulder and he kept fighting for the rest of the round. With this shoulder being out, the first round was dominant for Kennedy and after the round, the fight was waved off.

“I can only look at the positives of it and I came out injury-free,” Kennedy said to BJPENN.com. “I do feel robbed of a fight, it was going my way but that last half of the round he was hurt, and then it was called… I felt comfortable in there and his hype never fazed me as it might’ve in the past. The confidence is up now against any other featherweights.”

With Kennedy getting the win, he now has his eyes on Pedro Carvalho, as he thought if he beat Pico any other way he was going to call for a title shot. Yet, he knows because he won due to an injury he will need another fight and believes a matchup against Carvalho makes the most sense.

“With the fight ending by injury, it’s pretty hard to call for a title shot against Pitbull even though there are not many people in the division at the top. It seems the most logical fight is February against Pedro Carvalho,” Kennedy explained. “He’s ranked fourth, he doesn’t deserve a title shot, he needs another win and lost to a guy that isn’t ranked that long ago. It just makes sense. Pedro and I can fight in February and the winner gets a title shot.”

If Kennedy gets the fight against Carvalho, he says he isn’t opposed to going to Ireland to fight him there. The goal for the Canadian is to get the bout next as he believes he matches up great against the SBG Ireland fighter.

“I believe I match up great with him. I’ve been trying to get this fight for a while and have been looking at getting this fight,” Kennedy said. “He’s a tough guy and gets in these back-and-forth fights and is gritty, but overall I match up well with all of the featherweights and he’s not an exception.”

Although Jeremy Kennedy is focused on facing Pedro Carvalho next time out, he does believe he and Aaron Pico have unfinished business and will rematch in the future.

“It all really depends on recovery and timelines. Would a rematch make sense right away? It will always make sense but he has a lot of options, as there aren’t many guys in the top five for him,” Kennedy concluded. “Maybe I go out and fight and by the time he’s ready to fight again, Bellator will book it. But, I’m not keen on waiting around for him but I’ll be glad to get a fight and then fight him if the timing works because there is unfinished business there.”

Would you like to see Jeremy Kennedy face Pedro Carvalho next time out?