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Aaron Pico is no stranger to being thrown into the fire.
According to multiple reports, the red-hot free agent Aaron Pico has signed a new contract to fight for the UFC. There, the former Bellator star will reportedly meet a top-5 contender right off the bat in the undefeated Movsar Evloev – eerily similar to Patricio Pitbull debuting against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314.
Evloev is rumored to face Pico in a five-round main event from the UFC Apex on May 17.
Pico’s move to the premier promotion was expected following his dramatic PFL departure earlier this year. Pico is an exciting knockout artist with a 13-4 record, nine of those wins coming by KO.
Pico began his MMA career with Bellator back in 2017, having debuted under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden at the age of 20.
Pico had all the hype in the world heading into his pro debut.
Aaron Pico was touted as MMA’s greatest prospect before debut
Expectation after expectation was put on the credentialed Pico, a former Golden Gloves amateur boxing champion and former medalist in freestyle wrestling. He started wrestling at age 4.
Bellator promoted Pico to the fullest extent, giving the blue-chip prospect a tough matchup against 8-2 veteran Zach Freeman on a star-studded pay-per-view main card featuring Michael Chandler, Chael Sonnen and Fedor Emelianenko.
“From everything I’ve seen and heard, Aaron Pico may be the greatest prospect in the history of MMA,” Former Bellator boss Scott Coker told ESPN in 2017.
Things didn’t go according to plan at Bellator NYC…
Aaron Pico turned career around after 24-second loss at MSG
Within seconds in the opening round, Pico was caught coming in and dropped by a massive uppercut counter. Freeman would quickly grab ahold of Pico’s neck, attempting a guillotine submission.
Pico tried his best to survive from the ground but it was no use. He was forced to tap out in his first-ever MMA fight from the Mecca, Madison Square Garden.
His dreams crushed that night, it didn’t take long for Pico to pick himself back up. Pico returned later that year to claim his first victory… or should we say, first scalp?
After losing to Freeman, Pico went on an absolute tear of first-round knockouts, making opponent Justin Linn go limp with a mean left hook for KO #1.
Pico’s knockouts are as brutal as they come.
0-1 to begin his now-flourishing career, Aaron Pico’s first five opponents had a combined 63-20 record at the time he fought them. Pico has never fought an opponent with a losing record.
Winner of nine of his last ten fights, the one loss due to a shoulder injury, Pico’s constantly tested himself against the best competition Bellator had to offer and was reportedly on the verge of a title fight before leaving the PFL.
Pico has KO wins over Henry Corrales, Pedro Carvalho and Leandro Higo, decent names in Bellator.
We’ll see how he handles Aaron Pico handles the best in the world in the UFC, starting with #4-ranked featherweight contender Movsar Evloev next month.