Bellator 214: Fedor vs. Bader - Predictions and Picks

#2 Aaron Pico vs. Henry Corrales

Aaron Pico might be the finest prospect in all of MMA

In the semi-main event of the night, hot prospect Aaron Pico takes on tough veteran Henry Corrales in what should be the toughest test of his career. Corrales might have far less hype behind him than Pico, but he’s been fighting professionally since 2011, has won his past 4 fights against tough opposition and has only lost to the best Bellator has to offer – Patricio Pitbull, Daniel Straus and Emmanuel Sanchez.

Pico meanwhile – still aged just 22 – has been perfect since his shocking loss to Zach Freeman in his professional debut back in 2017. He’s torn through his last 4 opponents, beating all of them by KO or TKO, and hasn’t gone out of the first round. His bodyshot stoppage of Shane Kruchten, in particular, was absolutely vicious, and with an outstanding background in boxing and wrestling, it’s easy to understand why there’s so much talk of him perhaps being the best prospect in the sport’s history.

Corrales will be an interesting test for him simply because judging on his past fights, he appears to be far tougher than all of Pico’s previous opponents. He’s battle tested, and incredibly enough, of his 19 career fights, only 3 of them have ended in the first round. Those three losses he’s got in Bellator all came in tough fights and his loss to Sanchez came via split decision, although it was a clear loss.

If Pico finds it hard to put Corrales away early, then, he could be in for a long night. Discounting the Freeman fight, as it was over so suddenly, Pico literally hasn’t ever faced adversity inside the cage as all of his other opponents simply wilted under his power. Corrales may well do the same, but if he doesn’t? Then who knows how Pico might react?

I’m going to take Pico here based on a few things; firstly, I think his ceiling is at least as high as Pitbull’s and probably higher than the ceilings of Straus and Sanchez, and while he’s not the finished article yet, his offense is already at the stage where he’ll be able to put even tough fighters away. Secondly, he’s one of Bellator’s few homegrown stars, and it would make no sense for Scott Coker to push him too far too soon – particularly after the disastrous Freeman fight.

That makes me suspect that while Corrales is a tough fighter, Bellator’s matchmakers probably know that his rough-and-ready style could play into the more technical Pico’s hands, and to add to that, his excellent record is largely built on extremely low-level fighters, meaning his 15-3 might not be as great as it initially looks.

Corrales might have some moments early on and could well be the first fighter to push Pico out of the first round, but I think Pico’s striking power will prove to be the difference, and he’ll put Corrales away down the stretch, perhaps by ground-and-pound.

The Pick: Pico via second round TKO