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Aaron Pico was a top-ranked freestyle wrestler in the USA and is currently, a featherweight Mixed Martial Artist under Bellator promotion. At the early age of four, Pico wanted to be a Bull rider but instead, his parents signed him up for wrestling. He also had a stint competing in various combat sports such as boxing and pankration. He holds multiple National and International Championships as a freestyle wrestler and placed second at the 2016 Olympic Team Trials. At the height of his high school wrestling career, he was signed as a professional athlete under an MMA lifestyle apparel company, Dethrone Royalty, and had a multi-year shoe endorsement deal with Nike. Becoming a professional athlete has inhibited Pico from competing in collegiate wrestling but everything was planned in Pico’s career as he intended to focus on freestyle wrestling and join the 2016 Summer Olympic Trials and pursue his MMA career after.
MMA Career
Aaron Pico is a multifaceted athlete with a solid wrestling background, amateur boxing, and pankration win under his belt making him a great prospect to become the next MMA star. Bellator MMA did not fail to notice and signed Pico in a long-term contract. Aaron Pico’s Professional MMA record breakdown is 10 wins and 4 losses, having 7 wins via knockout, 2 wins by submission, and 1 win by decision. He is currently training at Jackson Wink MMA Academy where he is working with Coach Greg Jackson, Coach Gibson, and many other great Coaches at his disposal. He is not yet a BJJ Black belt but currently works with Professor Roberto Alencar for his jiujitsu game and grappling. Aaron Pico is currently a blue belt in jiujitsu, as some of the fans may know, Brazilian Jiu jitsu has a BJJ belt system wherein any practitioners excel in belt level depending on their skills and knowledge about ground fighting.
Pico’s transition from being a full-time wrestler to an MMA fighter has certainly been paying off.
Check out Aaron Pico’s Top 5 Knockouts!
* Video source BellatorMMA Youtube Account
Aaron Pico’s Latest Fight
The recently concluded Bellator 286 fight against Jeremy Kennedy last October 1, 2022, at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California ended with Pico getting a nasty shoulder injury.
Both fighters exchanged punches early in the first round before bringing the fight to the ground. It became apparent that Pico suffered a shoulder injury when he lost full use of his left arm during the grappling episode in round 1. Pico was able to survive the round even with an injured shoulder with an intent to continue the fight, Pico and his team tried hard to pop his shoulder back into place. The ringside physician was requested by the referee to check Pico at the start of round 2 and concluded that he suffered a broken clavicle ending the fight into a stoppage.
Aaron PIco’s Latest Update
Pico is well on his way to recovery after his successful shoulder surgery. Every fighter faces a slight bump on the road every now and then, and most of the time they come out much stronger and better than before. We can’t wait for this champ to go back in and claim the next best fight of his career. No one can deny how tough Mixed Martial Arts can be but that is why not everyone can get to this level. It will only get better from here on out for Aaron Pico and everyone should be on the lookout for this great talent!