Aaron Pico born September 23rd, 1996 in Whittier, California, started his martial arts journey on the freestyle wrestling mats placing second in the 2016 US Olympic Team Trials and holding multiple National and International Championships.
Pico’s thirst for competition didn’t stop there as he would add Boxing and Pankration to his sporting fest, winning the National PAL Championship in 2008 and was Junior Golden Gloves Champion in 2009.
As of right now, Aaron Pico is the no.3-ranked Bellator Featherweight fighter posing a record of 10-4 with 7 of the wins by knockout, 2 by submission and 1 by decision. His 4 losses have come by ways of knockout (3) and submission (1).
Aaron Pico had signed with Bellator in November, 2014 but had made his MMA debut at Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017. He is currently training in Jackson Wink MMA Academy with head coach Greg Jackson who has trained Jon Jones, Georges St Pierre and Rashad Evans to name a few.
Pico has had a little bit of inconsistency in his Bellator career but has the attributes to become a future champion. His high caliber of wrestling mixed in with great striking skill proves him no slouch for any of his competition.
As time goes by, his fight experience and combat IQ will increase thus making him a better martial artist and the losses he has had will only be lessons that he’ll put to good use in training camps.
Let’s take you through his most exciting career highlights so far and why he has the potential to be a future champion in Aaron Pico’s Top 5 MMA Finishes! (in descending order)
5. Vs. Lee Morrison – Bellator 199 (May 12, 2018)
In his fourth MMA bout, Aaron Pico took on Lee Morrison. Pico comes in as the taller guy by 2 inches and with the longer reach by 6 inches.
Pico rapidly takes the center of the octagon before both men start engaging blow for blow.
Morrison shows moments where he tries to take the fight to the ground but Pico displays his wrestling credentials and provides consequences by throwing a head kick at the end of every takedown defense.
Pico hits Morrison with a big right hand dropping him to the canvas. Pico shows patience and lets him get back up to his feet.
Shortly thereafter, Pico lands a vicious, left body shot putting Morrison on the ground and follows up with a final flurry of shots to end the fight.
Aaron Pico wins the bout via TKO at 1:10 into Round 1.
4. Vs Daniel Carey – Bellator 238 (Jan. 25, 2020)
Aaron came into this contest with a 4-3 record coming off two straight knockouts. This was an encounter where Pico needed to get back in the win column and not allow momentum to drop on his early career.
Pico starts the fight being the aggressor throwing leg kicks followed by a 1-2 while Daniel Carey tried to counter Pico keeping him against the fence by throwing punches out there to back Pico just slightly enough for him to circle away.
Pico gets an early takedown and maintains control throughout round 1 while displaying bits of ground and pound.
Round 2 starts and Aaron immediately presses the action keeping Carey’s back near the cage. As he pushes, he feints a right front kick which gets Carey in all types of confusion not knowing what offense is incoming.
The feint gets Carrey to drop his hands and allows Pico to land a clean left hook which leaving Carrey out cold.
Aaron Pico won the contest via KO at 15 seconds into round 2.
3. Vs. Shane Kruchten – Bellator 192 (Jan. 20, 2018)
In Aaron’s third pro bout, he went up against a fighter facing a noticeable height and reach disadvantage.
Round 1 began and Aaron wasted no time exchanging and displaying what power he had in his hands by landing a lovely left body shot by which Kruchten steadily fell to the floor.
Pico lets him get right back up and lands another beautifully timed left body blow which shuts Kruchten’s body down stopping his competitor from continuing.
Pico shows aggression, power and speed in his striking but also patience from such a younger athlete, not rushing or allowing himself to get caught in any risky situations.
The bout ended at 37 seconds into round 1 via TKO.
2. Vs. John De Jesus – Bellator 252 (Nov. 12, 2020)
Aaron Pico came into his 10th Pro MMA bout with a 6-3 record at the age of 24 giving up a 6 inch reach advantage to John De Jesus.
In round 1, De Jesus came out and tried to get the range game going and keep Pico at a distance he can’t reach him, but Pico does well to close the gap and grab a takedown. Pico shows good ground control and works his ground and pound for the majority of the round.
Once both men return to the feet, you could see in De Jesus’s demeanor that the takedown played on his mind making him extra cautious to mount his offense, especially with the early kicks he was throwing.
Round 2 starts very similar to the first with Pico negating that distance advantage De Jesus has, whilst implementing his high-level wrestling game with a takedown. Control and ground and pound is showcased, however De Jesus manages to scramble back to the feet.
Pico drops De Jesus with a right hand and follows up to get a finish or at least maintain control to get into a dominant position. De Jesus manages to get back to the feet and Pico steps back maintaining composure and resetting his attack.
De Jesus tries to put together a few attacks to get Pico to respect his striking because Pico just keeps walking him down and walking through whatever is attempted on him.
De Jesus goes for left knee potentially thinking Pico is dropping down for the takedown, but Pico comes over with a huge right hand clattering De Jesus with the fight stopping seconds later.
Aaron Pico won the bout via KO in round 2 at 4:12.
1. Vs. Justin Linn – Bellator 183 (Sep. 24, 2017)
After losing his first professional MMA contest, Aaron got back into the octagon to take on Justin Linn.
To start, Pico gets inside Justin very quickly allowing him to grab the waist and get Linn right to the ground. He shows nice control before both men are back to the feet.
The power between the two is clearly patent as Pico swarms Linn with combos and accuracy up against the cage.
Linn shows creativity and combat intelligence and there are moments where Pico resets and throws strikes of his own which start to land on Pico.
Pico manages to get another takedown over halfway through the round and controls Linn, possibly taking a breather from the output he had thrown previously.
The fight returns back to the feet with 90 seconds of the round left and Pico lands an unreal counter left hook as Linn throws an overhand right.
The precision and power on show causes Linn to lose all sense of his body and fall straight into the cage with the referee calling the fight off with Pico telling the crowd ‘I’m here to stay!’
Aaron Pico wins the bout via round 1 KO at 3:45 picking up the first knockout win of his career, and, in turn handing Linn the first knockout loss of his career.
