Aaron Pico’s next opponent inside of the Bellator cage is vowing to shock the world by picking up a win over the rising prospect in the Viacom-owned promotion. It was recently announced that Pico would face his toughest challenge when he fights Leandro Higo at the upcoming Bellator 206 event.
Pico comes into this fight with a 3-1 pro-MMA record. He picked up a win over Shane Krutchen with a body punch at Bellator 192 in January after earning a first-round stoppage against Justin Linn at Bellator 183. Pico was famously submitted by Zach Freeman in his promotional debut at Bellator 180, which marked his first fight as a pro-MMA fighter. He is fresh off a win over Lee Morrison by TKO at Bellator 199.
Once this fight was announced, there were some fight fans that were taken back by this bout announcement as it’s a hefty step up in competition for Pico thus far in his pro-MMA career.
Higo had an eight-fight winning streak coming into Bellator MMA but has lost two of three fights with the promotion. Those losses were to current 135-pound champ Darrion Caldwell and former titleholder Eduardo Dantas. Higo made some interesting comments on social media after the booking was made official:
“Going up in weight September 29th vs rising star Aaron Pico. Respect to him, but it’ll be my hand raised as the winner, just like in this photo. I’m ready to shock the world and remind you I’m here to be a champion. To the Irish big mouth: don’t cry, I’ll fight you in your home next.”
Bellator 206 is set to take place on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The preliminary card will air online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card will air on Paramount Network at 9:00 PM EST.
What are your thoughts on the comments made by Higo? Sound off in the comment section.
