Aaron Pico is targeted to return to the Bellator cage in April against, arguably, his toughest test yet.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that a fight between Pico and Jeremy Kennedy is in the works for Bellator 277. The event takes place April 15 at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. MMA journalist Marcel Dorff was first to report the booking.
After getting stopped in back-to-back fights by Henry Corrales and Adam Borics, Pico has gone on to run off five straight victories. The 25-year-old picked up vicious knockouts of Daniel Carey and John De Jesus, along with submission wins over Solo Hatley Jr. and Aiden Lee. In his most recent appearance, Pico handed former LFA featherweight champion Justin Gonzales his first loss with a dominant unanimous decision at Bellator 271 in November.
Kennedy, a UFC, Brave CF and PFL veteran, will compete for fourth time under the Bellator banner. The 29-year-old defeated Matt Bessette in his promotional debut before suffering a decision loss to Borics at Bellator 256. Kennedy bounced back with a huge win over former title challenger Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 272.
A promotional official also confirmed to MMA Fighting on Thursday a trio of new bouts to the card. Theo Haig will meet Alan Benson in a middleweight bout, Edwin De Los Santos and Alberto Mendez face off in a flyweight contest, while Bobby Seronio III takes on Caleb Ramirez in the bantamweight division. The 135-pound bout was first reported by MMA Junkie.
Bellator 277 will be headlined by a rematch for the featherweight title between A.J. McKee and Patricio Pitbull, while Vadim Nemkov defends his light heavyweight title against Corey Anderson in the finale of the light heavyweight grand prix in the co-main event.
Damon Martin contributed to this report.