Aaron Pico (Photo/Juan Garcia)A trio of former amateur wrestlers -- Aaron Pico, Chael Sonnen and Michael Chandler -- have been announced as main-event fighters at Bellator 192 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. in suburban Los Angeles on Jan. 20, 2018.
Pico, who passed on a promising collegiate wrestling career by signing with Bellator MMA at age 18, will be facing Shane Krutchen in a 145-pound featherweight feature.
A Marine Corps veteran, Krutchen will be making his promotion debut at Bellator's first event of the new year, but is hardly a newbie, having compiled a 12-3-0 career record… while Pico is 1-1-0 in his young pro MMA career.
Pico, a former high school state wrestling champ who made it to the finals at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials (falling to former Penn State NCAA champ Frank Molinaro), made one of the most-anticipated, most-hyped pro MMA debuts in New York City in June. However, it was a colossal fail for Pico, as he was submitted with a guillotine choke in just 24 seconds by veteran Zack Freeman. In September, Pico more than made up for that stunning loss with a first-round knockout at Bellator 183 in San Jose, Calif.
Chandler, a University of Missouri mat alum who earned NCAA All-American honors as a Mizzou Tiger, will face Goiti Yamaguchi in a main-event lightweight feature bout at 155 pounds. Yamaguchi brings a 23-3-0 record, while Chandler has a 16-4 mark in his pro MMA career.
Sonnen, a 40-year-old veteran of MMA, will take on "Rampage" Jackson in the first round of Bellator's Heavyweight Grand Prix. Sonnen, who once competed for the now-defunct University of Oregon wrestling program, has a 29-15-1 record in his long pro career while Jackson is 37-12-0.
In addition to these main-event bouts featuring former amateur wrestlers, Bellator 192's top-of-the-card event features Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima (29-6-0) defending his 170-pound title vs. Rory MacDonald (19-4-0).
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