Aaron Pico explains why he was eager to take short-notice fight at Bellator 295

HONOLULU – Aaron Pico just wants to resume his fighting career.

After suffering a gruesome shoulder injury back in October, which cost him a TKO loss by doctor’s stoppage to Jeremy Kennedy, Pico (10-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) is eager to return to the cage and pick back where he left off. He will get a chance to do so this Saturday on the main card of Bellator 295,which goes down at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.

Pico fights short-notice replacement James Gonzalez (10-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). The 26-year-old didn’t hesitate to accept the fight on just a week’s notice after his original opponent Otto Rodrigues withdrew from the fight.

“I got a call from Ali (my manager) and I immediately knew it was going to be something,” Pico recalled the moment his original fight fell through, speaking with reporters at the Bellator 295 media day on Wednesday. “The first words I said were, ‘Otto is out, right?,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ I said yes to whoever asked me to fight because that’s pretty much my answer every time, Yes, yes, yes.’ I immediately sent that to Greg and Brandon and got to work.”

Pico was on a six-fight winning streak prior to the shoulder injury in October. He got shoulder surgery shortly after and immediately got back to work one he got the green light from the doctors.

The Bellator featherweight contender wasn’t going to waste a single second more than the required amount of time needed to recover from the surgery.

“I just called Ali when I got cleared with my shoulder, I said I want to fight as soon as possible, you know, that I can fight in April,” Pico said. “I’ve been in training camp and, you know, even after the surgery, I didn’t really take much time off. I was straight into rehab and, and lifting weights, eating good, so I feel like I’ve been in camp since my surgery. I didn’t take the time to, to get fat and just, you know, as a vacation, I really, really, rested and worked out. It would have sucked to not be able to fight.

I love doing this and, I’m really happy that Rodriguez stepped in and, it’s a tough opponent. I’m not taking him very lightly. He’s a southpaw. He’s under Matt Sara and I believe Ray Longo, those guys are great coaches, and I’m not a guy to take anything for granted. I’ve lost in this game. I’ve been humbled and, yeah, we’re not taking this guy lightly, but I felt I’ve fought southpaws, and I have finished a lot of the southpaws: John de Jesus and Aidan Lee. So we quickly went with the coaches and, and reviewed our notes and, and we’re ready.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.