“I view every fight like a world championship fight.”
That’s Aaron Pico, quoted in a post the UFC News account put up on X on Friday, the day before he meets Losene Keita at UFC 333. The post framed it as Pico wanting to test himself against the best and prove he’s earned those opportunities. Facing a 17-2 Belgian who has held belts in two divisions is a fine place to start.
Pico (14-5) sits at No. 11 in the Knockout Daily featherweight rankings. He fights out of Jackson-Wink MMA, and his last fight came on April 11. He spent his first 17 pro bouts in Bellator before the UFC move, and before any of that he was a freestyle wrestling prodigy: a U17 world champion in 2013 and an Olympic alternate in 2016 at 65 kilograms. The physical gifts were never in question. A story syndicated Friday by the Los Angeles Daily News, the Orange County Register and the Press Telegram focused on the other half, with Pico training his brain to catch up to his skills.
View post on X
His mindset is clearly in a confident place. Earlier in the week, MMA Fighting reported that Pico would have no problem stepping in against Alexander Volkanovski on three days’ notice at this card. “I know with what I’ve been doing and my mindset, I’m prepared to win,” he said.
Keita doesn’t seem worried. Cageside Press ran an interview headlined with Keita saying he feels he’s a better martial artist than Pico. That’s a believable claim from a man whose Oktagon MMA run included two reigns as lightweight champion plus the featherweight title, along with interim belts in both divisions. He’s ranked No. 38 at 145 by Knockout Daily, which says more about how few UFC fights he has than about how dangerous he is. His last outing was September 5, so this is a quick turnaround.
View post on X
Both men were on weight. Pico came in at 145.5 pounds and Keita at 146, and the two squared off for the first time at Friday’s faceoffs.
One notable voice is with Pico. Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall included him in his UFC 333 picks, alongside Volkanovski, Petr Yan, Lone’er Kavanagh and Alexander Volkov.
View post on X
If Pico handles a former Oktagon double champ cleanly, the “world championship” talk starts to sound less like a mantra and more like a plan, especially with Volkanovski headlining against Movsar Evloev on the same card. The prelims and main card go live Saturday, October 24, at 2 p.m. ET on Paramount Plus.
