Pico says the PFL president jerked him around through 2024 and now wants to stop him from departing the promotion for UFC.
Aaron Pico hasn’t fought since a win over Henry Corrales at the PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS event back in February 2024. And after getting screwed around with multiple fight offers that never materialized, he sounds quite over being a PFL fighter.
Pico is one of many Bellator fighters who ended up riding the bench after PFL bought the promotion. According to him, the promotion offered him three fights in 2024, none of which materialized. Now that his contract is complete he’s asking the promotion to waive a matching period so he can leave for the UFC.
“I’m waiting for an offer right now from the UFC, but, it could be up to a year,” Pico told MMA Junkie. “So it could be two years of [no] fighting.”
Love Aaron Pico, rising star fighter and great person. To be clear @PFLMMA is NOT holding him back, Pico as free agent can sign TODAY with @UFC, and then #PFLMMA can decide whether to match offer. That is standard MMA contract Pico signed and how MMA industry works for everyone. https://t.co/6Hp5EhAoxX
— Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) February 18, 2025
“The only one holding this up, and I’m gonna just say it very, very blunt, is [PFL president] Donn Davis,” Pico continued. “Donn Davis can just give me my release and say, ‘You’re free to go to true free agency and test and see what’s the best fit for you,’ and that’s that. But like I said, he doesn’t wanna do that, and I have no idea why.”
The standout freestyle wrestler made it clear that there was no trust left with the PFL head.
“I don’t wanna fight for you, honestly,” Pico said. “It’s three times you canceled on me, and not even a phone call to say, ‘Listen, this is what we have going on. I know we discussed it in the airport in Saudi Arabia that you were gonna fight for the title in in California. These are the reasons, blah blah blah.’ But not even a phone call. So I don’t trust him.”
“I’m sure he’s a great guy, but this is business. Now we’re talking about business, and now you’re messing with me and how I make a a living for my son. And it’s not cool.”
Looks like Aaron Pico went on a full media tour asking for his release.
I hope he gets his release. A 28-year-old talent like him should not be sitting on the sidelines. He should be fighting 2-3 times a year.
To tell him to his face you were going to get him fights, then ghost…
— Carbazel MMA (@Carbazel) February 18, 2025
Davis replied to Pico’s interview over X (formerly Twitter), stating their right to match any fight offer for the next year wasn’t unreasonable.
“To be clear, PFL is NOT holding him back,” Davis claimed. “Pico as free agent can sign TODAY with UFC, and then PFL can decide whether to match offer. That is standard MMA contract Pico signed and how MMA industry works for everyone.”
Davis is correct that matching clauses are pretty common in MMA. What’s not common is sitting a fighter on the bench for a year while stringing them along with bouts that never come together. It’s something the promotion did with a number of Bellator fighters, and that has torched the PFL’s ‘fighter friendly’ reputation that took years to build.