Aaron Pico is diving back into wrestling competition after years of being away from the mat.
The UFC featherweight is set to make his Real American Freestyle debut Saturday, wrestling two-time PFL tournament winner Lance Palmer at RAF 10 at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. Apart from staying active and cashing in an extra paycheck, Pico’s reason to get back to his roots is a more personal one.
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“I love wrestling, and it’s funny: When I was doing some training for my last fight, there was a wrestling day, and I didn’t even have wrestling shoes,” Pico told MMA Junkie Radio. “One of my good friends was like, ‘Hey, have this pair of wrestling shoes.’ So I put them on for the first time in many, many years and just wrestled for about an hour, hour and a half, and it just brought back a lot of memories. I forgot how much I loved it and what it’s done and all the good times that I had wrestling. So I kind of had it in my mind that after my last fight with (Patricio) ‘Pitbull’ (Freire), I wanted to wrestle on the RAF because, it’s just good for me – good for the soul.”
Pico is mainly known for his run in Bellator and current career in the UFC. However, Pico started as a wrestler. That was his introduction into combat sports. Pico made both the U17 and U20 U.S. World Team, where he won several medals in international competitions. His achievements in wrestling might not be as well known as his MMA career, but they’re quite prestigious nonetheless.
“My background is wrestling,” Pico said. “A lot of people forget that. When I started wrestling, I was 4 years old and took a little bit of a break around like from 10 to 12 because I was boxing. I had like 30 fights in boxing and really, really loved it. I’ve always enjoyed wrestling, and I competed all around the world. I spent a long time away from home for wrestling training, but I kind of have a unique story because I didn’t do the traditional path of wrestling in high school and then go straight to college. My freshman year, I made the U.S. world team and won a world championship that year and decided just to not go to college and pursue my dream of becoming a world and Olympic champion.
“I knew I always wanted to fight, so I decided not to wrestle in college, and that was a big thing for a lot of people because when you grow up, youth wrestling, especially in the United States Division-I Championship, is what every kid dreams of. My path was a little bit different, and I’m really happy with the decisions I made and where it’s led me. It’s been a good journey. It’s not over, but it’s been fun.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC’s Aaron Pico: Wrestling return with RAF ‘good for the soul’
