Issue 179

June 2019

Bellator featherweight Aaron Pico is gunning for a shot at a major MMA title, but he has a deep love for the sport of boxing, as he reveals to Fighters Only here.

Much of your social media usage revolves around your training. I have heard some legendary stories about The Garage. Can you open the Garage door and share a story with us?

There are a lot of stories! The funniest one that I can think of was the day I met T.J. Dillashaw.

It was in The Garage. I remember the workout and he was just throwing up everywhere. He would throw up and be like "No, I’m good. I’m good." He would finish the workout because he is such a stud.

It’s so crazy because he was saying it was so cool. I just fell in love with how hard The Garage was. It made me so eager to come back because I knew I had something to look forward to.

But that day when T.J was first there, that was a cool day. To see him that day and to see where he is today is pretty cool. The Garage will do that to you. It’s like anything else. It’s one of the toughest things you will do but if you stick with the program and keep coming, your body will go to a place where not many people get to. I was in the same boat my first time in The Garage, too. I was literally crying the first time I went. I was crying, I’m not joking. It is that hard.

In the beginning I know the neighbors were looking at us like ‘Who in the hell does all of this stuff?’ People would drive by and think we were crazy. As time goes on everybody starts to realize that we are fighters. The poor neighbors, they are all good people and they all know what’s going on and support us now. It’s not for everybody but for us, it works.

Another aspect of your high-level training is your work with legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach. What is the significance of the shoes he gifted you recently?

I put it on social media and I had many people ask me how could you not know Tyson Fury is six foot nine? The bottom line is that Mizuno only makes up to size 13. They ordered him the biggest size they possibly could. Mizuno runs very, very small so they didn’t fit Tyson. Freddie had them and I was there at boxing. I had a really hard training session. I did six rounds against a very tough opponent. I did very well. I don’t know. He just reached in his little cabinet and he said, "Here are some shoes. If they fit you can have them."

In my mind I thought that they better fit! I will make them fit! I love Mizuno shoes. I put them on and they fit perfectly. Then he told me they were Tyson’s and he was supposed to wear them against Wilder. I just wanted to wear them once.

I had people there taking photos of me and I told Freddie that I was only going to wear them once. It was a special occasion. I said the next time that I wear them he will be in my corner and we will be in a boxing ring. This is when I’m going to bust them out again. I started hitting pads and I told him I think we could do some special things in these shoes. He thought I was crazy but that is my little story. It was a special gift.

You are a real student of the game. How much do you love boxing?

I love boxing equipment. I love boxing gloves and boxing shoes. I love gauze and tape. It has always been a fascination of mine ever since I was a little kid. I have always loved it.

I look at boxing shorts and what certain fighters would wear and what they would wear with their shoes. I have always been into it, so the shoes from Freddie were a special gift to me.

Freddie was asked why he goes to the gym every day. He said that you never know when the next superstar will walk through that door. Are you the next superstar that walked through his door?

It’s really crazy to say. I always watched the HBO documentaries with him and that’s exactly what he said. You really never know when that next superstar will walk through the door.

I used to tell my parents that all the time. I used to tell my mom that I was going to be the next superstar. I’m going to be trained by Freddie Roach. She would say, "Yeah of course, you can do it." She probably thought I was crazy. That’s OK, though. She would always let me talk. I would always have these big dreams and I would tell my mom I’m going to be on pay-per-view one day fighting at the MGM Grand. I used to believe that as a kid. I wanted to be trained by him so bad. To just spar or hit pads with him was a dream.

That’s a reminder to all the kids out there that you should never stop dreaming.

I had a good friend of mine that said the day you stop dreaming is the day you die. I may sound crazy and you might not know how you are going to get there but if you really want something you will find a way to get it done in life. That was a big goal of mine, to be able to be at the Wild Card Boxing Club sparring with the best boxers in the world and being coached by Freddie. That’s a dream checked off the list. It’s pretty cool that it came to fruition and that I’m living it.