Aaron Pico (Photo/Bellator)One week after celebrating his 22nd birthday, Aaron Pico -- who made a name for himself as a high school wrestler but bypassed college competition for mixed martial arts -- made short work of veteran Leandro "Pitbull" Higo, scoring a TKO by punches at 3:19 of Round One at Bellator 206 at SAP Center in San Jose Saturday night.
MMA websites used different words to describe what Pico did to the 29-year-old Higo in their featherweight (145 pounds) fight -- "obliterates" (LowKickMMA.com) ... "rolls over" (MMAFighting.com) ... "demolishes" (MMAJunkie.com) ... and "annihilates" (BloodyElbow.com).
"This fight didn't last long as Pico was aggressive early and looking to knock Higo's block off," according to LowKickMMA.com. "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."
MMAFighting.com wrote, "Higo used low kicks to try to stymie Pico's progress at the outset, but it didn't last long. The hard-charging Pico dropped Higo with a wicked right, and while Higo managed to get back to his feet after an initial onslaught, Pico just continued to lay the heavy hands on his opponent until the bout was waved off."
In the brief bout, it wasn't all Pico, all the time.
"Pico didn't deliver his damage without taking some in return," MMAJunkie.com reported. "In the early moments, Higo caught him on the counter as he aggressively pursued exchanges. None of the shots, however, were enough to slow the 21-year-old down. A straight right was the beginning of the shift, as Higo covered up and took several shots to the body. From there, Pico was in control."
At the end, BloodyElbow.com described Pico as "scary good."
MMAFighting.com went into a bit more detail with its summation of where the freestyle wrestling phenom in high school now is in the pro MMA career launched in June 2017 with a shocking defeat.
"They've been calling Aaron Pico the sport's brightest blue-chip prospect for years now. But it's time to retire that label, because it is clear the Southern California native is the real deal and well on his way to the top."
"I'll tell you one thing, three or four years from now, there will be no one who touches me in this cage," Pico said after the bout.
A couple days earlier, Pico had said he had not ruled out a return to freestyle wrestling, confident that he could make the U.S. Olympic team for the 2020 or 2024 Games.
With the win, Pico is now 4-1 (the one loss was in his pro debut in 24 seconds via submission in the first round to Zach Freeman at Bellator 180). Higo, who has been fighting since 2006, is now 18-5.
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