Zach Freeman Upsets Aaron Pico With 24-Second Submission

As soon as Aaron Pico signed with Bellator MMA back in 2014, there was a ton of hype behind him due to his success as an American freestyle wrestler. Pico had no easy task in his Bellator MMA debut on Saturday night during the Bellator NYC pay-per-view against Zach Freeman in a lightweight bout.

This fight did not last long at all. In the words of Mauro Ranallo, who made his Bellator MMA debut as a commentator, this was over in a New York minute. In the opening seconds of the first round, Pico ate a knee and got dropped hard with a hook. Freeman locked in the guillotine choke for the win. That was it.

This has to hurt the confidence of Pico, who was highly hyped leading into this bout despite the fact that he had no MMA experience before. Luckily for him, he has signed a multi-fight contract with the promotion and will at least get a few more bouts to not only improve on his skills but to impress Bellator brass. Regarding Freeman, this is a huge win for him as not many people gave him a chance against Pico. Coming into this fight, he had a mixed record with one win in his last three bouts.

Zach Freeman def. Aaron Pico via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:24