Aaron Pico Obliterates Leandro Higo In First Round
Aaron Pico continues to make progression in his pro-MMA career as in his latest fight booking, he took on the always dangerous Leandro Higo.
As seen on the main card of Bellator 206 that went down on Saturday night (September 29, 2018) at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on their new streaming service home, DAZN, Pico defeated Higo by TKO in a featherweight bout.
This fight didn’t last long as Pico was aggressive early and looking to knock Higo’s block off. Higo with two knees to the face to test the prospect. Pico hurts Higo but then Higo defended the onslaught against the fence very well. Hard right hand floors Higo and eventually gets the late stoppage. Color commentator and former referee, John McCarthy, was very critical of Mark Smith, who was serving as the referee for this fight as it should’ve been stopped earlier than it was.
As soon as 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 at the Bellator NYC on pay-per-view event against Zach Freeman in a lightweight bout. This fight did not last long. In the world of Mauro Ranallo, who made his Bellator MMA debut as a commentator, this was over in a New York minute.
Most thought that this had 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 signed a multi-fight contract with the promotion and got more fights under his belt to not only improve on his skills but to impress Bellator brass. Since then, he scored three straight finishes by strikes over the likes of Justin Linn, Shane Krutchen, and Lee Morrison.
On the flip side, Higo made his Bellator debut as a late replacement for Darrion Caldwell against Eduardo Dantas in a non-title bout at Bellator 177 but lost by decision. In his next two fights, he would pick up a decision win over Joe Taimanglo and lose in his latest bout to Darrion Caldwell by submission.
Aaron Pico def. Leandro Higo by TKO (strikes) at 3:19 of round 1
