With Jeremy Kennedy out, Aaron Pico needs new opponent for Bellator 277

The first fight on Aaron Pico’s new Bellator deal won’t come without a hiccup.

Jeremy Kennedy (17-3 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) is out of his fight against Pico (9-3 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) at next week’s Bellator 277 event. A person with knowledge of the bout told MMA Junkie on Thursday that Pico, who just signed a new deal, now is awaiting a new opponent.

Bellator 277 takes place April 15 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Pico will be hoping for a new opponent so he can try to extend his five-fight featherweight winning streak. Pico, 25, has been on a roll ever since a down 2019 in which he lost twice by knockout. Since then, he’s beaten Daniel Carey, Chris Hatley, John de Jesus, Aiden Lee and, most recently, Justin Gonzales by dominant unanimous decision this past November at Bellator 271.

Kennedy was hoping to keep the momentum going after one of the biggest victories of his career, a unanimous decision against Emmanuel Sanchez this past December at Bellator 272. Kennedy, a 29-year-old four-fight veteran of the UFC, has won four of his past five fights dating back to July 2019.

With the change, the Bellator 277 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ A.J. McKee vs. Patricio Freire – for featherweight title
• Champ Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson – for light heavyweight title; light heavyweight tournament final
• Aaron Pico vs. TBA
• Tim Johnson vs. Linton Vassell

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)

• Gaston Bolanos vs. Ali Jafri
• Rakim Cleveland vs. Tyrell Fortune
• Rafael Carvalho vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
• Kyle Crutchmer vs. Michael Lombardo
• Calob Ramirez vs. Bobby Seronio III
• Rhalan Gracie vs. Tyson Miller
• Edwin De Los Santos vs. Alberto Mendez
• Socrates Hernandez vs. Rogelio Luna
• Laird Anderson vs. JT Donaldson
• Alan Benson vs. Theo Haig