Rumored Movsar Evloev vs Aaron Pico in the works? **Update** Not happening

[Meathead Jock]

Pico is most likely going to starch Evloev. And if Pitbull beats Yair, they might match them up.

If Pico starches Evloev he is getting a title shot next for sure. American, fun style, and coming off a win over the top guy in the weight class.

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

Why wouldn't you give Pico a shot here?? He's a very highly skilled and well rounded fighter.

 

[Rhood]

Pico is gonna get murdered.
He was getting fairly easy matchups in PFL & Bellator.
This is a huge leap in competition.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Pico is gonna get murdered.
He was getting fairly easy matchups in PFL & Bellator.
This is a huge leap in competition.

I'm excited to see the betting line for this one. Feels like the kind of fight Vegas should have a hard time setting.

 

[svmr_db]

I'm excited to see the betting line for this one. Feels like the kind of fight Vegas should have a hard time setting.

I think Evloev will get some respect when the lines open but not anything crazy. Opening line in the -150 / -200 range sounds right to me.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Great opportunity for Pico here, great job by his team

He is a dog here but if he were to win this, he’s all a sudden in the mix at the top

And Pico, is a skilled fighter, bad IQ in the cage, but you have to think if he can put his tools together, even at this point, he’s a dangerous dude. I feel he will go out on his shield now that he is on big stage

Mosvar will look to safely grapple him up for a secured W. But Aaron has a good wrestling background, and his wrestling style may be able to completely thwart Mosvar, we don’t know yet

At least Pico won’t get starched here and can focus on what he needs to do to win

 

[JKS]

You've never seen him fight before??

 

[JKS]

Great opportunity for Pico here, great job by his team

He is a dog here but if he were to win this, he’s all a sudden in the mix at the top

And Pico, is a skilled fighter, bad IQ in the cage, but you have to think if he can put his tools together, even at this point, he’s a dangerous dude. I feel he will go out on his shield now that he is on big stage

Mosvar will look to safely grapple him up for a secured W. But Aaron has a good wrestling background, and his wrestling style may be able to completely thwart Mosvar, we don’t know yet

At least Pico won’t get starched here and can focus on what he needs to do to win

Well, if there is one thing Pico should have no concerns about is getting finished. Evloev couldn't finish a sandwich if he tried his best. If Pico is able to keep it standing, which he should, he's gonna piece Evloev up standing.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Well, if there is one thing Pico should have no concerns about is getting finished. Evloev couldn't finish a sandwich if he tried his best. If Pico is able to keep it standing, which he should, he's gonna piece Evloev up standing.

Im here for a vicious beating from Pico

He rips the body nicely with lead-hand

Be sweet to see him fold Evloev and take him out of title picture

 

[JKS]

Im here for a vicious beating from Pico

He rips the body nicely with lead-hand

Be sweet to see him fold Evloev and take him out of title picture

Me too! Would be very nice and convenient.

And Evloev does get rocked in fights. I wont be surprised the least bit to see Pico finish him, big skill gap in boxing. Pico should just focus on defensive grappling and defending TDs staying off the cage. Not even plan to wrestle offensively, which he can do well, but why risk it vs a really good grappler.

 

[wufabufa]

I keep thinking about this fight. Crazy gamble from the UFC. So if Pico wins do they give him the next title shot? Or does the winner of Pitbull vs Yair get it? Pico and Pitbull are unknown to UFC casuals and Yair hasn't been the busiest guy either. All three of those would be somewhat tough to sell to regular American fans..... If Yair wins, Evloev loses, and Lopes wins you could have a huge event in Mexico with Yair and Lopes. Even though Diego is Brazilian we all know he runs a gym in Mexico and the people there love him. The fight would be massive there.


To me that's the best case scenario for the UFC. Dicey shit to say the least.

 

[TR1]

lol wow! Pico was once supposed to be the next big thing, until his chin got somewhat exposed against mid-tier level guys, but in my mind that was like 10 fucking years ago…Pico’s just 28?!? Holy shit…

And what a steep first UFC fight! As someone else pointed out, though, at least that’s a fight against a fellow wrestler where his main weakness (chin) is absolutely unlikely to get further exposed, so he could be the one scoring a KO here…

There was a time when the sport was actually full of guys starting in their early 20s and being in their primes before they were 34

 

[NoSmilez]

His holes match up well with Evleov. He has a tendency to get chinned. Evleov hasn't appeared to be that guy.

He last got finished in 2019 from strikes. His last loss was a shoulder injury in 2002. Otherwise he would also be on a 9-10 fight win streak .
Evleov is a high risk/high reward fight.Evleov has a tendency to let fights get away from him. Pico might steal rounds simply by just trying to kill him in there.

Crazy if Evleov takes it as he would wait himself inti a title shot, but it's a good fight to stay busy with and he may finally get a finish.

I think Movsar is just going to drown him. Pico is an excellent wrestler but his ground game isn't there. They are fighting at the Apex. It might be an advantage for either men.

His winstreak is a bit jenky. He is the crusher of prelim level fighters. It is hard to tell if he is technically improving or he is crushing subpar opponents. Pico just bites down on his mouthpiece and throws as hard as he can. Not much has changed in his style. I don't like Movsar but he clearly has a game plan. He isn't going to entertain the brawl with Pico.

 

[Meathead Jock]

I keep thinking about this fight. Crazy gamble from the UFC. So if Pico wins do they give him the next title shot? Or does the winner of Pitbull vs Yair get it?

Id bet the house on Pico getting a title shot with a win. Org needs Americans to be in the title picture and a win over the top guy is way better than a win over Yair. Plus Pico's style is entertaining so that always gets fast tracked.

 

[Meathead Jock]

I think Movsar is just going to drown him. Pico is an excellent wrestler but his ground game isn't there. They are fighting at the Apex. It might be

His winstreak is a bit jenky. He is the crusher of prelim level fighters. It is hard to tell if he is technically improving or he is crushing subpar opponents. Pico just down bites on his mouthpiece and throws as hard as he can. Not much has changed in his style. I don't like Movsar but he clearly has a game plan. He isn't going to entertain the brawl with Pico.

I mean Pico did get to rematch a previous loss in his last fight where he made the opponent not look worthy of sharing the cage with so there has been improvements. He still throws hard but he is more measured.

 

[Prazeres]

I keep thinking about this fight. Crazy gamble from the UFC. So if Pico wins do they give him the next title shot? Or does the winner of Pitbull vs Yair get it? Pico and Pitbull are unknown to UFC casuals and Yair hasn't been the busiest guy either. All three of those would be somewhat tough to sell to regular American fans..... If Yair wins, Evloev loses, and Lopes wins you could have a huge event in Mexico with Yair and Lopes. Even though Diego is Brazilian we all know he runs a gym in Mexico and the people there love him. The fight would be massive there.


To me that's the best case scenario for the UFC. Dicey shit to say the least.

Anik refered to Pitbull vs Yair as an eliminator, might just be a mistake, but I wouldn't be shocked if the winner of that gets the next shot even if Mosvar beats Pico.
Only situation he's guarantee the next shot is if both Volk and Yair win their fights. The UFC can make Pitbull vs either or Lopes vs Yair on that mexican independance day card, but Volk vs Yair 2 is a though sell.
Only comperable situation I can think of of how Mosvar is being treated compared to Lopes is how Gray Mayniard was made to take a title eliminator against Florian while he was already on a 7 fights winning streak with a bunch of good names like Siver, Miller, Huerta and Diaz to get a shot at Frankie who he had already beat and hadn't lost since.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

I keep thinking about this fight. Crazy gamble from the UFC. So if Pico wins do they give him the next title shot? Or does the winner of Pitbull vs Yair get it? Pico and Pitbull are unknown to UFC casuals and Yair hasn't been the busiest guy either. All three of those would be somewhat tough to sell to regular American fans..... If Yair wins, Evloev loses, and Lopes wins you could have a huge event in Mexico with Yair and Lopes. Even though Diego is Brazilian we all know he runs a gym in Mexico and the people there love him. The fight would be massive there.


To me that's the best case scenario for the UFC. Dicey shit to say the least.

I would be pleased to see Pitbull and Pico as the next contenders with both winning

Fresh faces and new matches at the top

Pitbull has been a long-time coming

 

[JKS]

Don't get me wrong here, I love this fight and am very much looking forward to it. But from a match making perspective and rankings...wouldn't

Evloev vs Pitbull
Yair vs Pico

Make more sense?? Considering Pitbull is a former Bellator champ and has fought some high ranking opponents.

 

[KO Shotz]

Evloev should get winner of Lopes/Volk

 

[rjmbrd]

There was nothing casual about that Lopes fight, though?

30-27, 29-28, 29-28 Unanimous Decision.

For context, Diego go on to win 5 in a row after losing UD to Movsar, all lopsided wins.

It was one of Movsar's hardest fights. A lot of people scored it for Diego.

This is demonstrably not true.

I didn't, but I totally see people's arguments who felt like Lopes should have gotten the nod. He gave Evloev all he could handle and had him in danger both on the feet and on the mat multiple times. And that was a short-notice Lopes! The fights against Sterling and Allen were also pretty razor-thin.

Again this was a UD on all 3 cards and a complete sweep in all media scores. Nothing to see here.

Sterling and Allen both had good, competitive fights they lost. This is exactly what I mean when saying Mosvar is fighting - the best fighters in the world - and winning every time.

To the point that Volk is fighting for a fake belt, because of the outright absurdity that Mosvar isn't the person fighting.

I haven't tracked Pico's career in years, but I don't think it's wild to say that on-paper he has the right skill set to give Evloev a tough out. I'll probably favor Movsar because like you I value level-of-competition and momentum, but I wouldn't be remotely surprised to see an upset or another fight where Evloev has to put on a Heraclean effort to pull out the W. Stylistically it looks challenging.

Tough I guess. Pico has fought jabronis. I have a doubt stepping up to top 10 competition at this point in his career would be an easy transition, but against the #1 guy? Don't see it.