Bellator MMA featherweight star Aaron Pico will return to action in Honolulu, Hawaii next month.
Pico (10-4) is set to face Otto Rodrigues (13-1) at Bellator 295 on April 22, 2023 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed the match-up to Cageside Press following an initial report by MMA Junkie.
The 26-year old was last seen in action at Bellator 286 in October, in a key featherweight fight against Jeremy Kennedy. The bout was over before it really got going, with Pico dislocating his shoulder in the opening round, rendering him unable to continue.
The injury TKO loss snapped a six-fight win streak Aaron Pico had compiled between 2020 and early 2022.
Brazil’s Rodrigues has not lost since 2008, and will be making his promotional debut in the fight. The former Jungle Fights featherweight champion most recently competed for LFA, winning a unanimous decision in his lone fight there.
Bellator 295 is set to be headlined by the bantamweight grand prix finale featuring interim champ Raufeon Stots against Patchy Mix. The following match-ups have been reported for the event thus far:
- Raufeon Stots (ic) vs. Patchy Mix — for the Bellator MMA interim bantamweight championship / Bantamweight Grand Prix final
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ray Borg
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kana Watanabe
- Aaron Pico vs. Otto Rodrigues
- Davion Franklin vs. Kasim Aras
- Yancy Medeiros vs. Charlie Leary
- Bobby King vs. Aalon Cruz
- Keoni Diggs vs. Weber Almeida
- Kai Kamaka III vs. Adli Edwards
- Sumiko Inaba vs. Veta Arteaga
