Aaron Pico best MMA prospect ever?

[RainyMonday]

He's too small for 155

 

[tehMoose]

Yes!

 

[gspfedkobe24]

He looks like Cub Swanson and Max Halloways kid.....

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Amazing prospect but he's been competing and taking damage way too long already. Expect him to have a bright but short(er) career

 

[Roca]

Sounds delicious

 

[Meathead Jock]

Looks more like a Shai Lebouf

That's what I came to say & yes he is the greatest prospect of all time but now he has to live up to his potential.

 

[Meathead Jock]

He's too small for 155

When he signed he was planning to do 145lbs but it sounds like he instead said he would rather fill into his frame at 155lbs.

 

[LiveFreeorDie]

He's way too over hyped.

It's gonna be extremely difficult to live up to it.

Especially considering he doesn't have the BJJ or submission background.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

Fedor & Penn. They were prodigies in other combat sports before their mma debut. This Pico dude has legit creds tho. 0-0 guys are tough to put in the prospect category. Have a few pro fights first to see how everything transitions.

I mean it's not like Pico was an undefeated amateur boxer with Pankration titles or anything.

Oh wait...

 

[MCS]

I mean it's not like Pico was an undefeated amateur boxer with Pankration titles or anything.

Oh wait...

Combat Sambo world champ > junior nat GG champ. All hail Stephan Bonnar!

 

[LiveFreeorDie]

That's what I came to say & yes he is the greatest prospect of all time but now he has to live up to his potential.

I agree he is a great prospect, but he is not at all the greatest ever. There has been Olympic medalist, world champ kickboxers, world champ BJJ practicioners, and even much higher level boxers.

Pico is a national and european champ in pankration and wrestling, while being a golden gloves boxer. I do not see how he is a greater prospect than what we have seen in the past, unless we factor in age.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

Combat Sambo world champ > junior nat GG champ. All hail Stephan Bonnar!

Dominance over 3 sports, all with MMA ties > Dominance in one

 

[Meathead Jock]

I agree he is a great prospect, but he is not at all the greatest ever. There has been Olympic medalist, world champ kickboxers, world champ BJJ practicioners, and even much higher level boxers.

Pico is a national and european champ in pankration and wrestling, while being a golden gloves boxer. I do not see how he is a greater prospect than what we have seen in the past, unless we factor in age.

I do include age into the mix but based on your response you might view someone like Cejudo as a better prospect and i'd disagree because...

Cejudoclearly was a great wrestler, but MMA got him about 5 years after he won Olympic Gold and 1 year after he followed it up by not making the Olympic Team. After he won the Gold he only wrestled about a grand total of 10 matches in those 5 years instead tried to brand himself as a professional role model. None the less despite his laziness for 5 years his wrestling was elite and similar to Picos at the point of entering the sport.

However Cejudos boxing was never anything special; his boxing got people like myself excited just because the concept that he tried out boxing instead of mma after wrestling assured us that he wasn't scared to take a hit like you see with many wrestlers. Pico at the youth level though was a world class boxer as opposed to a guy who boxed instead of taking the easier path of mma for a wrestler of that level (Cejudo).

Pico also has the pankration experience where he was a national champ which i'm ignorant too but is a lot like MMA I guess.

Throw in he has a world class gym in AKA (if they don't kill his knees) and Bob Cook as a full time guy. Cejudo trains out of small rinky dink gym that has kickboxing cardio classes last I checked.

Basically Pico has all the advantages except a small one in wrestling

 

[MCS]

Dominance over 3 sports, all with MMA ties > Dominance in one

CS is basically all 3, maybe the best base. You can get some clubbers at GG's. Maybe he got unlucky and still slapped them around.

 

[LiveFreeorDie]

I do include age into the mix but based on your response you might view someone like Cejudo as a better prospect and i'd disagree because...

Cejudoclearly was a great wrestler, but MMA got him about 5 years after he won Olympic Gold and 1 year after he followed it up by not making the Olympic Team. After he won the Gold he only wrestled about a grand total of 10 matches in those 5 years instead tried to brand himself as a professional role model. None the less despite his laziness for 5 years his wrestling was elite and similar to Picos at the point of entering the sport.

However Cejudos boxing was never anything special; his boxing got people like myself excited just because the concept that he tried out boxing instead of mma after wrestling assured us that he wasn't scared to take a hit like you see with many wrestlers. Pico at the youth level though was a world class boxer as opposed to a guy who boxed instead of taking the easier path of mma for a wrestler of that level (Cejudo).

Pico also has the pankration experience where he was a national champ which i'm ignorant too but is a lot like MMA I guess.

Throw in he has a world class gym in AKA (if they don't kill his knees) and Bob Cook as a full time guy. Cejudo trains out of small rinky dink gym that has kickboxing cardio classes last I checked.

Basically Pico has all the advantages except a small one in wrestling

I come from a boxing background, and i'm not trying to take away anything from Pico, I would not consider him having been tested at a "world class" level. Pankration, while great, can be very limited in some aspects as compared to amateur MMA. The real question is, are there any gaping holes in his submission game? That can take 4-5 years to fill. But thankfully, he has the time, and thankfully he chose MMA as we need more prospects.

As for AKA, the kid already tore his ACL, hopefully they wont end his career before it starts.

 

[Te Huna Matata]

Basically Pico has all the advantages except a small one in wrestling

And even then, I question it. Cejudo had one great tournament. Aside from that, he's never been able to replicate that success. The previous year at the World Championships, he took 31st and never made a world team after that. 65kg has been a shark tank for years. 57 has been USA's weakest weight for as long as I can remember. Pico only ever tried for 1 world team almost making it as a 19 year old losing to the eventual 5th place winner at the Olympics.

 

[Organic Damage]

I agree he is a great prospect, but he is not at all the greatest ever. There has been Olympic medalist, world champ kickboxers, world champ BJJ practicioners, and even much higher level boxers.

Pico is a national and european champ in pankration and wrestling, while being a golden gloves boxer. I do not see how he is a greater prospect than what we have seen in the past, unless we factor in age.

Cejudo as has already been mentioned is a better prospect on paper. But everyone thinks he's a bust because he didn't come in and dethrone MM.

We need to have realistic expectations about these guys.

 

[Thc Sargon]

His nickname is Pico De Gallo!!

 

[Private Whatley]

I'm interested to see how he looks in there. When Bob Cook and Javier Mendez say that someone is the greatest pure talent they've ever seen, I believe them. It's not like they haven't been around some high level competitors.

 

[Sinedd]

Bellator clearly believe the hype, since they gave him a 8-2 guy for his first fight and they sure as hell are not above feeding guys they want to push a steady stream of cans