Bellator signed Aaron Pico at the age of 17 on November 15, 2014, to a “long term contract“, with the hope that he will be their next big prospect. Pico came to Bellator with a decorated wrestling background as a gold medalist in the 2013 Cadet World Championship in Freestyle Wrestling at age 16. Pico also was a Golden Gloves amateur boxing champion in 2009 at 13 years old and competed in the Wrestling Olympic trials in 2016 at 19.Β
Scott Coker after signing Pico said, “Simply put, Aaron has all the makings of MMA’s next great superstar, and to have him here at Bellator is something special.”Β Picoβs potential crossing over to MMA seemed to be high. Now in 2020, Pico hopes to bounce back from two knockout losses and regain the mystic he once had.
For Bellator’s first Pay-Per-View event,Β Pico was featured on the main card on against Zach Freeman at Lightweight for Bellator 180 on June 24, 2017.Β Freeman was coming into the fight with an MMA record of 8-2 and this was Pico’s first MMA fight, with Pico being the favorite to win. All the attention was on Pico, but Freeman would beat Pico by Guillotine Choke in 24 seconds.Β After the loss Commentator Mauro Ranallo said, “To be fair, this is Aaron Pico’s professional debut. Bernard Hopkins lost his first fight and became a boxing legend.” On a night that was Pico’s introduction to MMA fans on Bellator’s historic event, Pico started his MMA career 0-1 and had to go back to the drawing board.
Adjusting after the loss, Pico moved down to Featherweight with a fresh start. Pico went on a four-fight win streak, all by stoppage and in the first round. All four of the opponents were also more experienced in MMA. Picoβs biggest win was defeating Leandro Higo by TKO at Bellator 206 on September 29, 2018. Higo has fought for the Bellator Bantamweight Championship prior to fighting Pico and had a record of 18-5 going into the fight.
Pico was proving the hype and buzz that he received to be real, however, in 2019, Pico found himself back in the losing column.
Henry Corrales delivered Pico’s first knockout loss at Bellator 214 on January 26, 2019. In the fight, Pico was doing well and dropped Corrales with an uppercut. Corrales recovered well and Pico being overzealous, left himself open to getting caught with a devastating right hook in the clinch. The knockout derailed the momentum that Pico had gained, raising questions of Bellator’s matchmaking and Pico’s strategy going into his fights.
Pico would return at Bellator 222 on June 14, 2019, against undefeated 12-0 Featherweight Adam Borics. This was also Picoβs first fight on the prelims in his career. In the fight, Pico used his wrestling ability to takedown Borics and dominate him. This was a part of Picoβs game plan that some have criticized him for not utilizing in his fights. For the majority of the fight, Pico dominated Borics, until Borics was able to land a flying knee to knock out Pico in the second round. After the knockout loss, Pico didn’t fight the rest of 2019.
Pico is in an interesting predicament in his early MMA career. At 23 years old with a record of 4-3, Pico and Bellator are at a turning point in where to go next. Pico has fought more experienced competitors in MMA since his debut, which has been to the credit to the ability of Pico and to the detriment of his early career. Pico is still figuring how to maximize his potential in MMA with his wrestling and boxing background against his opponents that have a better understanding of who they are in MMA. This has played a part in Picoβs three losses in fights he has been finished.
Pico will face Daniel Carey(his record is 7-3) on the prelims of Bellator 238 on January 25. Bellator built Pico up to be the next big thing and have noticeably pulled back, with the example being putting Pico on the prelims. Another loss for Pico could really set him back, especially another knockout loss against Carey who has two knockout wins on his record. Picoβs next fight is a must-win, the problem is if Pico can reach potential that Bellator had for him.