Experienced Aaron Pico moving inexorably toward a Bellator MMA championship shot

Aaron Pico stopped Adli Edwards 55 seconds into the third round on April 15 on the main card of Bellator 277 in San Jose, California, extending his winning streak to six with his fifth finish in that span.

For most, the end of a fight is a time for a break, for a short vacation and the ability to enjoy the things in life that a fighter in training can't enjoy.

That, though, wasn't in Pico's plans. Not long after defeating Edwards, he ran a half-marathon. And he maintained vigorous workouts that he called "a crazy strength and conditioning program," that he says have left him in "crazy good shape."

MMA fighters are among the most well-conditioned athletes in the world because the sport demands so much in so many areas, but Pico stands out even among the elite in that group.

He posted a photo of himself after a workout on Instagram last week in which he looked half like a triathlete and half like he was preparing for a bodybuilding competition. The only thing that is for certain is that he appeared to be in amazing condition.

He acknowledged that his lifestyle isn't for everyone, but running half-marathons, doing triathlons, and hitting the weights hard gives him the confidence he can endure anything an MMA fight may throw at him.

"The lifestyle outside of [fighting], if I'm going to be doing half-marathons and triathlons, keeps me very disciplined on my eating," said Pico, who faces Jeremy Kennedy on Saturday on the main card of Bellator 286 at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California. "I think that's the biggest thing. I think a lot of fighters let themselves go [after a fight] and they blow up. I'm the opposite. I don't like that. It's not healthy and you look terrible. I want to stay in good shape and become a world champion. So I think it just keeps me focused and sharp outside of the fight and doesn't get me distracted."

He wants to fight a long-time and make as much money as he can from this most difficult of sports, so he's amazingly dedicated to his conditioning program. And as he's gained experienced, he's beginning to show why Bellator signed him to a futures contract in 2014 when he was just past his 18th birthday.

At the time, he was considered the next big thing in MMA and with an elite background in both boxing and wrestling, was viewed as a superstar-in-the-making.

It's more than five years since his debut and there has been no title shot for Pico. If he defeats Kennedy on Saturday, he'll most likely fight for the Bellator featherweight title in his next outing.

The expectations on him were enormous at the beginning of his career, though they didn't overwhelm him. Rather, a lack of experience in the sport caught up to him.

Pico is 10-3, a very good record for most fighters but a disappointment according to some because of the lofty expectations that were placed on him before he debuted. He was an elite wrestler and an elite boxer and in some corners, the view was that he would steamroll the competition en route to a championship.

That was never Pico's belief, though he's a very confident athlete. He knew even in 2017 how difficult MMA is, and fighting the high-level opposition he did early was a tall order. He debuted on June 24, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York against Zach Freeman. Freeman was 8-2 at the time and had fought for the LFA lightweight title in the bout before meeting Pico.

Freeman finished Pico in 24 seconds and quickly, all those who had lavished praise on Pico for his varied skills were dumping on him.

It could be a lot to take, but he learned long ago to tune all of that out. If some thought he were a failure by starting his MMA career 4-3, he notably did not.

"To be honest with you, I've never even thought about that," he said of being viewed as a failure. "I've just been taking the fights that have been given to me and trying to be better as a martial artist. That's been the biggest thing. I've never looked at anything like, 'Oh, I was a failure.' I always felt good and I just told myself I needed time, time to develop and to get my bearings under me. I feel like I'm in a good place with my coaches and everything is clicking. I'm one fight away, maybe, for a title and all the pieces are falling where they need to fall.

"At the end of the day, these MMA fans are really brutal on fighters. They think that they have it all figured out, but they really don't. I don't really care about what people have to say about where I should be at this point in my career. Even when I was 4-3, I was surrounded by the best coaches in the world. And even then, Greg Jackson said, 'You will be one of the greatest fighters of this time one day.' I just trusted them and believed in them. I think they're right, but I have to go out there and prove it."

He said that during training, there hasn't been one sparring partner who's been able to go three rounds with him. He's learned the ins and outs of the sport in his five years and he's a young veteran with a lot of room to grow.

He's not satisfied with just being one of the best, and he's pushing himself to his body's limits to make it as far as he can.

"Every fight I have had, I've viewed as a world championship fight and I couldn't have trained harder for any of them because I always train my f***ing ass off," Pico said. "I do my job and go as hard as I possibly can for every single fight, and this is no different. I have my good days and I have my bad days, but all of it makes sense because I feel amazing right now. All of those guys who can't keep up with me, that's their problem, not mine. I can't apologize for winning. I can't apologize for eating the way I do or that I get the proper rest, proper nutrition. It's very expensive being the best, with money and with time.

"I value my time and people think I'm crazy, and I am, but you know what? This is very important to me and I want to leave a legacy in this MMA and I can't apologize for winning and for doing everything humanly possible to help me do that."