Aaron Pico's emphatic Bellator 183 KO just what he needed after that awful debut

SAN JOSE, Calif. – After surviving one of the most embarrassing nights of his life, Aaron Pico is actually kind of glad that it happened.

When Pico walked into Madison Square Garden on June 24, he wasn’t just another fighter making his Bellator debut. Along with a stellar amateur wrestling track record, paired with a Golden Gloves boxing title, Pico carried the weight of some serious hype into his first professional MMA bout.

In just 24 seconds, however, Zach Freeman crushed those expectations to a pulp with a fight-ending guillotine choke.

Less than three months later, at Saturday’s Bellator 183, Pico got his shot at redemption. And not only did he make the most of it, he did so in awe-inspiring fashion with a savage first-round knockout of Justin Linn.

The feeling as he stood in front of reporters this time certainly was quite different than after his Bellator NYC debut. But count on the focused Pico to put a positive spin on what could have been a soul-crushing experience to many others.

“I felt so good. Training went so good, everything went well (before Bellator 180),” Pico said after his main-card featherweight bout, which aired on Spike from SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. “But the biggest thing for me is, I was going everywhere. And I didn’t have that team where I was at.

“So, to be honest with you, I think it was – it might sound kind of funny, but I’m glad that happened to me. Because I wouldn’t be with Antonio McKee at the BodyShop with all those guys. I wouldn’t be there probably”

Pico was quite familiar with McKee, who’d helped with his wrestling weight cuts since he was 5 years old. So when the trainer called right after the debut fiasco, the Pico jumped at the opportunity.

“A lot of people like to kick you when you’re down, especially after Madison Square Garden,” Pico said. “I got a lot of stuff, people ‘You suck,’ this or that. First one to call me and want to help me was Antonio.

“So I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to go with Antonio.’ Those guys at the BodyShop: A.J. McKee (Antonio’s son), Joey Davis, Baby Slice. I clicked well with them.”

It certainly showed on Saturday, when Pico (1-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) was able to stay cool and eat some shots en route to a thunderous win over the much more experienced Linn (7-4 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

The composure Pico says he felt in the lead-up to the match showed in the brief moments of the scrap in which he felt Linn’s shots. All the hard work, Pico said, had already been done. So it all came down to staying confident in his training and weapons.

“I always knew my hands are powerful,” Pico said. “I’m not being cocky, but there’s a lot. I spar with the best boxers in the world. I go with the best guys in the world at Team Body Shop with A.J. McKee and all, so I’m confident in my ability.

“The biggest thing this whole camp was just to relax. And, once I relaxed, my skills were going to show.”

The result of trusting the hands that Pico always knew carried some serious knockout capabilities? The perfect outcome.

“I wanted the knockout, absolutely,” Pico said.

As relieved as he is with the win, which also served as one seriously cool gift for his 21st birthday, Pico knows he’s still a “puppy” in MMA. That’s why he wants to keep on racking up cage time – and the Bellator card set for The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 20 seems like as good a place to start as any.

“I’d love to fight in Los Angeles, so that’d be really cool,” Pico said. “(But) I’m healthy. It was relatively quick. So, whenever they need me, I want to fight.”

Acknowledging there’s still plenty of room for growth doesn’t keep Pico from chasing the higher goals that not even that particularly rough day at the office managed to shake.

“June 24th, Madison Square Garden, was one of the most embarrassing days of my life,” Pico said. “It took me a while to just soak it all in. I couldn’t believe it actually happened. But I said, you know what? Excuse my language – I said, ‘(expletive) this, I’m coming back. I’m coming back.’

“I woke up every day, and I was just on a mission with Antonio McKee. ‘I will show them, I will come back.’ And I still have that chip on my shoulder. I will be world champion. I would be 0-5 and still trying to be world champion. I will be world champion, or I will die trying. That’s my mindset.”

To hear more from Pico, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of Bellator 183, check out the MMA Events section of the site.