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Aaron Pico
Aaron Pico (born September 23, 1996) is an American mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He started out his career in Bellator MMA, where he fought his first 17 bouts. As of April 14, 2026, he is #13 in the UFC featherweight rankings.
In freestyle wrestling, Pico competed at 65 kilograms, where he was notably an Olympic alternate in 2016, as well as a U17 World champion in 2013.
Pico was born September 23, 1996, in Whittier, California. He is a seventh-generation Californio and a member of the Pico family of California, as great-great-great-great-grandson of Pío Pico, the last governor of California under Mexico rule and the 10th Governor of Alta California. Pico started wrestling at the age of four, and competed in multiple other combat sports. At age ten, he began boxing and competing in Pankration tournaments.
During his freshman year of high school, Pico capped off a perfect 42–0 season at St. John Bosco High School and won the CIF state championship at 132 pounds. Afterwards, Pico would compete in freestyle, claiming the U17 World title at 63 kilograms over Japan in the title match. He made his senior freestyle debut at age 18, defeating Alibeggadzhi Emeev in a lopsided decision in a dual meet against Russia.
The top-ranked high school wrestler in the country in 2014, he signed major endorsement contracts with Dethrone Royalty, an MMA lifestyle apparel company, and a multi-year shoe endorsement with Nike, Inc., turning into a professional athlete and making him ineligible to compete in collegiate wrestling under NCAA rules. Pico stated he intended to focus solely in freestyle to continue a mixed martial arts career after a 2016 Olympic run, foregoing further education. Before his MMA debut, Pico explained:
"I always had it in mind that I would be an MMA fighter. I'm not going to waste my time with four, five years of college and get my MMA career started. I said I'm going to be in MMA so, I want to try and make this Olympic team, win a gold and then become a MMA fighter."
In 2014, Pico claimed the U20 US National Championship in April by defeating Penn State's Zain Retherford in the finals, and went on to defeat him two more times in June for the U20 US World Team spot.
In July, Pico competed in the senior level, claiming a silver medal from the Grand Prix of Spain, only falling to World medalist from Italy Frank Chamizo. In August, he competed at the U20 World Championships, where he notably defeated Daichi Takatani from Japan in the first round, and went on to defeat four more foreign opponents by technical fall before facing eventual 2016 Olympic Gold medalist from Iran Hassan Yazdani, whom he lost to on points.
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Aaron Pico
Aaron Pico (born September 23, 1996) is an American mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He started out his career in Bellator MMA, where he fought his first 17 bouts. As of April 14, 2026, he is #13 in the UFC featherweight rankings.
In freestyle wrestling, Pico competed at 65 kilograms, where he was notably an Olympic alternate in 2016, as well as a U17 World champion in 2013.
Pico was born September 23, 1996, in Whittier, California. He is a seventh-generation Californio and a member of the Pico family of California, as great-great-great-great-grandson of Pío Pico, the last governor of California under Mexico rule and the 10th Governor of Alta California. Pico started wrestling at the age of four, and competed in multiple other combat sports. At age ten, he began boxing and competing in Pankration tournaments.
During his freshman year of high school, Pico capped off a perfect 42–0 season at St. John Bosco High School and won the CIF state championship at 132 pounds. Afterwards, Pico would compete in freestyle, claiming the U17 World title at 63 kilograms over Japan in the title match. He made his senior freestyle debut at age 18, defeating Alibeggadzhi Emeev in a lopsided decision in a dual meet against Russia.
The top-ranked high school wrestler in the country in 2014, he signed major endorsement contracts with Dethrone Royalty, an MMA lifestyle apparel company, and a multi-year shoe endorsement with Nike, Inc., turning into a professional athlete and making him ineligible to compete in collegiate wrestling under NCAA rules. Pico stated he intended to focus solely in freestyle to continue a mixed martial arts career after a 2016 Olympic run, foregoing further education. Before his MMA debut, Pico explained:
"I always had it in mind that I would be an MMA fighter. I'm not going to waste my time with four, five years of college and get my MMA career started. I said I'm going to be in MMA so, I want to try and make this Olympic team, win a gold and then become a MMA fighter."
In 2014, Pico claimed the U20 US National Championship in April by defeating Penn State's Zain Retherford in the finals, and went on to defeat him two more times in June for the U20 US World Team spot.
In July, Pico competed in the senior level, claiming a silver medal from the Grand Prix of Spain, only falling to World medalist from Italy Frank Chamizo. In August, he competed at the U20 World Championships, where he notably defeated Daichi Takatani from Japan in the first round, and went on to defeat four more foreign opponents by technical fall before facing eventual 2016 Olympic Gold medalist from Iran Hassan Yazdani, whom he lost to on points.