Aaron Pico has made it clear that he wants the UFC, but claims the Professional Fighters League (PFL) are stopping him.
Pico, once branded the ‘greatest prospect in MMA history’, fought just once last year and has cited a broken promise, plus several cancelled fights with his current promotion as the main driving force behind his decision to leave.
The 28-year-old Californian sparked a major reaction from the MMA community following a scathing attack on his PFL boss Donn Davis this week.
Pico revealed that Davis was the ‘only one’ holding up a UFC switch, although he did admit the process could take around a year to go through.
UFC President Dana White has previously hinted at wanting to sign Pico to his organisation, saying in January that his team were ‘definitely interested’ in the deal.
This came before Pico went on a full media tour, begging his current boss Davis to release him from the promotion so he can join the UFC.
“All I want to do is fight in the UFC,” Pico told Luke Thomas on Wednesday, before explaining the PFL did a U-turn on a title bout they had offered him last year.
Pico has been left frustrated at the fact that his current promotion has the option to trigger a clause where they can match whatever the UFC offers him, likely giving Pico no other option but to sit on the sidelines and wait.
He went on to explain that he had signed a seven-fight deal during a 30-month period in the promotion, but only received five of those fights.
“In my eyes, it’s a breach of contract,” Pico added, speaking on his situation.
Pico also said Davis never gave him an explanation for any of his cancelled fights, ‘it was just you’re not fighting.’
He has already made it very clear that he will not fight for PFL ever again, and Davis has since responded to the allegations claiming his fighter is free to go.
“[I] love Aaron Pico,” he wrote on X, responding to a clip of Pico calling for Davis to ‘do what is right’ and grant his outright release.
“Rising star fighter and great person,” Davis added. “To be clear PFL is NOT holding him back, Pico as [a] free agent can sign TODAY with UFC, and then PFL can decide whether to match [the] offer.
“That is [the] standard MMA contract Pico signed and how [the] MMA industry works for everyone.”
Pico has been considered a future world champion for a long time after making his professional MMA debut in 2017 at the age of 20.
He has since gone on to have a largely successful career under the Bellator MMA banner, which now operates as the PFL, where he is currently unbeaten in his last three fights.
The Californian supposedly became a free agent this month, following in the footsteps of former Bellator featherweight champion Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire, who asked to be released from the PFL in a viral dispute with the promotion.
Aaron Pico’s professional MMA record
KO artist
‘Pitbull’ was officially confirmed as a UFC fighter on Thursday and will take on Yair Rodriguez on his debut at UFC 314 in April
Speaking about the ongoing situation back in December, Pico’s manager Ali Abdelaziz said he was doing everything in his power to help his client get the best deal.
“Pico right now is a free agent,” he told MMA Junkie.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help these guys become successful, but I’m also going to do everything I can to make sure my fighters stay regularly competing and have fights, because if they do not have fights, they cannot buy that time back.
“Pico didn’t say nothing because he’s a free agent. He can shop here very soon, after 90 days (of the exclusive negotiation period).
“Maybe before the 90 days PFL make him a deal he cannot refuse, I don’t know.”
