It’s likely the sport of MMA has never seen a prospect quite like Aaron Pico. Being so young with so much experience—a good boxer with a wrestling base, being so fast, yet so powerful—the 22-year-old featherweight is every promoter’s dream.

At a young age, Pico has already accomplished more than many athletes can conquer in a lifetime. A gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 2013 Cadet World Championships, Pico also won bronze (2014) and silver (2015) at the World Junior Championship. Additionally, Pico won a 2008 national PAL title, a national golden gloves championship in 2019, and the golden cup European pankration championship.

How does someone accomplish so much before they hit 20? Interestingly, Pico says his success isn’t strictly his own doing.

“I think what sets me apart from everyone else is everyone involved in the operation,” Pico said in an interview with FloCombat. “My brother, my girlfriend, my dad, my mom, and all of my coaches. It’s just a huge army that I’ve surrounded myself with. Knowing I have all of them around me, I can go into training and just focus on training and becoming a good fighter.

“We have a lot of people involved, but we’re very open-mined about things and are never negative. No bullshit gets past us and we stick together.”

Saturday, Jan. 26, Pico sets his sights on picking up another win, and potentially a Bellator title shot in the process. Next Saturday, at Bellator 214 in Inglewood, California, Pico will enter a potential number-one contender bout against surging MMA Lab product Henry Corrales.

This training camp, Pico stuck with the recipe of past success. The Californian split time between Team Bodylock (under coach Antonio McKee) and Wild Card Boxing (under legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach).

In addition, Pico drilled strength and conditioning at Treigning Lab alongside UFC champion TJ Dillashaw and Bellator standout Juan Archuleta. While finding the UFC bantamweight champion’s upcoming cut to 125 pounds to face Henry Cejudo a bit shocking, Pico insinuated he believes Dillashaw has what it takes to be the UFC’s next potential "champ-champ.”

“This has been a great training camp for him,” Pico said of Dillashaw. “He’s the strongest that he’s ever looked. And he’s going down in weight, which is kind of crazy. I still can’t wrap my head around it.

“Even being with Juan and [TJ] and seeing the way that they train... Juan is going to fight at 135 pounds, and I think he’s in a strong position to fight for the title after that. TJ is fighting to make history in two weight divisions. I’m fighting for a position in title contention.” 

Raising the stakes means placing the bar even higher in fight camp preparation.

The trio of fighters has never been more dialed in, according to Pico.

“Not to say we weren’t focused before, but this is different. It was a different type of grind. These aren’t just everyday fights, these are life-changing fights," Pico said. "These fights are going to mean something and really help your future. There wasn’t no play time.”

Standing in Pico’s path Jan. 26 will be top Bellator featherweight Henry Corrales —a man whom Pico respects as much as anyone.

“There’s only one word to describe him: tough,” Pico said. “He’s very, very tough. As long as I stick to my skill set and what I know—just use my boxing and wrestling and all of my skills—I feel like the fight is going to be a great night for me. 

“The reason is because, one: I have a great skill set, and two: the longer the fight goes, the better for me. We’ll just have to take it as it comes. Let’s not forget he is a tough guy and has been in there with Bellator world champions. It’s no little stroll in the park for sure.”

With a win over Corrales, Pico believes he has a chance at being the next challenger for Bellator bantamweight king Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.

“The winner of this I feel is in a very, very good position to fight for a title,” Pico said. "I think you can make a very good argument as to why [the winner] should fight for a title. But we just have to get through this and then we sit down for what to do next. I’m in no rush.

“All I can say is that I’m on a four-fight win streak and they’re all by knockout. That speaks for itself. It’s going to be an exciting night.”