In 2014 Aaron Pico was a sophomore in high school, and so remarkable a wrestler that he signed with Bellator MMA. At Bellator 180 in 2017, by then a veteran of dozens of amateur MMA matches, amateur boxing bouts, and a lifetime of wrestling, Pico made his professional MMA debut vs. Zach Freeman (Lesnar
The fight could determine whether Aaron Pico was a Karam Gaber (Olympic gold medalist in Greco who got KOed by Kazuyuki Fujita in 67 seconds the first and only time he tried MMA) or a Brock Lesnar (NCAA Div I champ who made his MMA debut in 2007 and the next year and three fights later was the UFC champion).
Pico lost his MMA debut but he's no Karam Gaber. Pico bounced back against far lesser competition, earning four strike finishes in a row. Then the competition stepped up, and he lost two in a row to strikes. But Aaron Pico has bounced back again, first kayoing then 7-3 Daniel "Scary" Carey, and on Friday night at Bellator 242, showing none of the recklessness evident his loss, and instead executing a near-perfect game plan.
Pico took down the then 8-2 Solo Hatley, improved position, and submitted him with a Rear Naked choke for his first submission win.
https://twitter.com/MMAjunkie/status/1286866066799570944
Now training at Jackson Wink MMA, Pico reflected at the post-fight press conference.
“I think it’s just staying patient, because the times that I’ve gotten in trouble are when I’ve been so fixated on the knockout rather than letting the fight come to me,” said Pico. “I’m not going to lose my killer instinct to knock people out. I’m not going to lose that. I’ll never lose that.”
“It’s just a matter of timing. I have to be patient, work on my wrestling, my takedowns, implement all my skills, and the knockout will come. Make no mistake, my killer instinct is always going to be there.”
“I’ve been on a four-fight win streak before and then I fought some very, very tough guys. I just know that I love this sport, and I really had to pick myself out of a deep hole with all the expectations on me.
“To wake up the next morning after being knocked out for your second loss in front of millions of people, it’s very, very ... Some days I didn’t want to get up, but you need to eat. There’s no sense of quitting now. There’s going to be bumps in the road. There’s going to be losses in life regardless.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjs8iZP-3GA
h/t Dave Doyle and Nolan King for MMA Junkie