Aaron Pico to fight Pedro Carvalho at Bellator Dublin in September

The long and winding journey of Aaron Pico toward Bellator gold continues.

In his next appearance, Pico (11-4 MMA, 11-4 BMMA) will face fellow contender Pedro Carvalho (13-7 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) at the promotion’s upcoming Dublin event scheduled for Sept. 23 at 3Arena.

Promotion officials Tuesday confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA Fighting.

Pico, 26, defeated James Gonzalez by unanimous decision in April. In doing so, he rebounded from a TKO loss due to shoulder injury against Jeremy Kennedy. The defeat against Kennedy is his only loss since 2019. He’s 7-1 over that stretch.

Carvalho, 27, is a former Bellator featherweight title challenger who has maintained his spot at the top of the division in recent years. Since he was knocked out by champion Patricio Freire in November 2020, Carvalho has alternated losses and wins. He is comes off a unanimous decision defeat to Jeremy Kennedy in February.

With the addition, the Bellator Dublin lineup now includes:

• Champion Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards – for middleweight title
• Pedro Carvalho vs. Aaron Pico
• Brian Moore vs. Otto Rodrigues
• Mads Burnell vs. Daniel Weichel
• Sara Collins vs. Sinead Kavanagh
• Luke Trainer vs. Laurynas Urbonavicius
• Mark Ewen vs. Noah Gugnon
• Kenny Mokhonoana vs. Josh O’Connor
• Chiara Penco vs. Mackenzie Stiller
• Roman Debienne vs. Nicolo Solli

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