COSTA MESA, Calif. – Aaron Pico is expecting Bellator to book him to fight in April.
Pico (10-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) dislocated his shoulder in a TKO loss to Jeremy Kennedy last October at Bellator 286 where doctors intervened to stop the fight at the end of Round 1 after Pico attempted to pop his shoulder back in. The 26-year-old underwent surgery and says he’s 100 percent ready to return.
“I had surgery in October and rehabbed the crap out of it,” Pico told MMA Junkie. “Now I’m fully cleared to fight so, they’re working on a fight for me. I’m looking to fight in April.”
The loss to Kennedy snapped Pico’s six-fight winning streak, but the highly touted fighter doesn’t view it as too much of a setback. He expects to pick up right where he left off when he returns.
“I don’t feel like I lost,” Pico said. “On paper, yeah, of course. But I think the fans saw and the organization – I mean, it didn’t even bump me in the rankings or anything like that. Kennedy handled it like a true professional. He wasn’t being like, ‘Oh, I won.’ It is what it is. A freak accident, and it was just unfortunate the first 30 seconds the shoulder was out.”
He continued, “I’d like to be a world champion at the end of 2023. I feel I’m ready, I have a new shoulder, I’m just knocking on the door to be a champion, and I think when it’s all said and done in this year, I’ll have the Bellator belt wrapped around my waist.”
