After an unsuccessful debut in June, Pico is hoping to get his first MMA win when he takes on RFA-veteran Justin Linn at ‘Bellator 183: Henderson vs. Pitbull’.
The fight has been confirmed by Bellator MMA after initial reports last night.
Aaron Pico (0-1) vs. Justin Linn (7-3)
In a somewhat questionable decision, Pico has been given another well-experienced fighter following a very quick loss to an 8-2 lightweight in his debut. Pico signed with Bellator MMA as a teenager in 2014. He entered the Bellator ranks touted as one of the best MMA prospects of all time.
His championships in both amateur wrestling and amateur golden gloves boxing made people think that whenever he decided to debut; Pico would be a force to be reckoned with. His debut came on the massive Bellator NYC pay-per-view card. Pico came out hard and exchanged punches early, but was dropped almost immediately following a sneaky uppercut landing for Zach Freeman. As soon as the fight hit the mat, Freeman locked in a tight guillotine choke and forced Pico to tap just 24-seconds into the first round. For more on that, check out the Bellator NYC Aftermath. Aaron Pico will turn 21-years-old just three days following his contest with Linn. And what a birthday gift it would be to get his first win in mixed martial arts in San Jose.
“The Mortal Sinn” Justin Linn has fought as low as bantamweight, and as high as 150lb, but he appears to be at his best when competing at featherweight. His most recent outing was in April of 2016, losing to UFC-veteran Cody Gibson. Prior to that, Linn was quickly submitted by one of RFA’s greatest fighters, and current UFC contender; Matthew Lopez.
Prior to the Lopez loss, he won four-straight while competing in the featherweight division, with all four of those wins coming in the first round. Amongst those finishes are names like Adrian Cruz and Altair Alencar, needing two minutes and forty-two seconds combined to take out both of them.
‘Bellator 183: Henderson vs. Pitbull’ is scheduled to take place on September 23 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
The event will be headlined by perennial lightweight contenders Benson “Smooth” Henderson and Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. The co-main event sees fan-favorite heavyweight Roy “Big Country” Nelson make his Bellator MMA debut against Javy Ayala.
Also on the main card; a welterweight barnburner between Paul “Semtex” Daley and Lorenz Larkin. Rounding out the main card will be this Pico vs. Linn match-up, as well as a match-up between lightweight prospects Goiti Yamauchi and Adam Piccolotti.
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