Aaron Pico signs with UFC after exiting PFL in free agency

Aaron Pico is officially a UFC fighter.

The featherweight contender secured his release from the PFL and signed a deal to join the roster at the UFC. Sources close to the situation confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The deal comes together after Pico was technically out of contract with the PFL but the promotion still maintained matching rights. Pico later told MMA Fighting that he planned to sit and wait out those matching rights if that’s what it took for him to finally be able to pursue his dream to compete in the UFC.

Ultimately, PFL let Pico go and he’s now signed with the UFC with his debut fight expected to be booked in the near future.

The 28-year-old fighter was one of the top prospects to ever transition to MMA after he grew up with both a wrestling and boxing background. Pico signed with Bellator MMA while he was still a teenager but continued pursuing his wrestling dreams before ultimately coming up just short from making the 2016 Olympic team.

He finally made his move into MMA but faced some early struggles after suffering a loss in his debut fight.

Pico eventually turned things around and teamed up with coaches like Brandon Gibson and Greg Jackson before he went on a 9-1 run in his final 10 fights between Bellator and PFL. His only loss came after Pico suffered a freak shoulder injury in a fight against Jeremy Kennedy that prevented him from continuing past the opening round.

He quickly bounced back from that fight with three more wins including a knockout over Henry Corrales in early 2024, which helped him avenge an earlier loss in his career.

Pico now joins the UFC roster with hopes to make a fast rise up the featherweight ranks with the promotion about to crown a new champion on Saturday when Alexander Volkanovski faces Diego Lopes in the UFC 314 main event.