Aaron Pico Drops to Featherweight, Meets Justin Linn at Bellator 183 in San Jose

Aaron Pico has an opponent — and a new weight class — for his sophomore MMA appearance at Bellator 183.

The highly-touted prospect will drop to 145 pounds to face Justin Linn at Bellator 183 in San Jose, Calif., on Sept. 23. ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report the booking. Bellator 183 takes place at the SAP Center and is headlined by a lightweight clash between Benson Henderson and Patricky Freire.

Pico made his MMA debut in a lightweight bout against the more experienced Zach Freeman on the pay-per-view draw of Bellator NYC on June 24. The American Kickboxing Academy trained fighter would shockingly fall to Freeman via guillotine choke in just 24 seconds.

Like Freeman, Linn has a significant edge on Pico in professional experience. The 28-year-old Las Vegas native owns a 7-3 career mark that includes a three-fight stint in Resurrection Fighting Alliance. The 28-year-old is coming off back-to-back losses to UFC veterans Cody Gibson and Matthew Lopez.