Aaron Pico isn’t ready to move on from fighting Movsar Evloev, despite the Russian fighter pulling out of their UFC fight in Abu Dhabi on July 26th.
Evloev hasn’t given a reason for the withdrawal, and Pico sounded just as in the dark as the rest of us. But whereas most fighters would be relieved to get a pass on fighting the dominant pressure wrestling Movsar, Pico just wants to know when they can fight, and he wants it to happen as soon as possible.
“Not going to sugarcoat it. I’m pretty disappointed
you pulled out of this one,” Pico wrote on Instagram. “I get that things happen, and I truly hope whatever’s going on, you recover quickly.”
“That said, my camps aren’t cheap, and I’m ready to get in there and put on a show sooner rather than later. I understand there’s an opening for us on August 16th in Chicago. We don’t get promotions for calling in sick. I’ll see you in Chicago, Movsar Evloev.”
Evloev is 19-0 in MMA and 9-0 in the UFC, having most recently beaten Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen, Diego Lopes. Despite this hitlist, he’s still having a hard time securing a featherweight title shot over more entertaining fighters with vastly less impressive resumes like Yair Rodriguez. A win over Pico — especially a finish — would have done a lot to lock up a championship match with current 145 belt holder Alexander Volkanovski.
Enter Aaron Pico, who is coming in from Bellator on a 9-1 tear. Pico was an alternate on the 2016 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team before giving up on amateur wrestling to sign with Bellator at just 18 years of age. Pico struggled a bit against top contenders just two years into his MMA career but has since proven himself to be every bit the top prospect people expected with a long string of knockout and submission wins.
Evloev hasn’t responded to Pico’s call for a rescheduled match, but hopefully we get to see these two top featherweights clash in August at UFC 319.
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