What Happened With Aaron Pico's Wrestling Career ...

I've always been a huge Aaron Pico fan and I thought it was time to remind folks just how good this phenom was. I hope you guys enjoyed this video half as much as I enjoyed making it. Drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts.
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Thanks for watching!

[@Abstrakt_YT]

I wrestled Aaron Pico when he was a freshman and I was a senior. I won California state, and he teched me at Freakshow, felt like wrestling a robot that couldn’t lose, wish he would have won the trials, would have been dope to watch him in the Olympics

[@e2go]

He had some of the heaviest hands I've seen on a wrestling mat for a young guy. His snaps were incredible. I remember him snapping down Zain Retherford seemingly 248292 times with ease over the course of their matches. Unreal.

[@tonycook8299]

@artemioflores1350 You must’ve been a dog. Do you still wrestle man

[@thesportsguy3609]

It's been quite a while since I've thought about Pico. I sure would have liked to see him wrestle in college.

[@thomasmiller2089]

He was likely going to be an all time great college wrestler. Sad we all missed out.

[@StaleMates]

Agreed!

[@elizabethgalicia1896]

Catching up on my Stalemates videos. Excellent job. Really liking all these new videos. I learn something new on each one. I always wondered what happen with Aaron Pico! Keep up the good work.

[@richairey]

Good one! Wish we got to see at Aaron at the NCAA level and at least one more olympic cycle. As always, appreciate the content

[@abdulrabbani4520]

Could have been one of the GOATs of the sport.

[@StaleMates]

Agreed!

[@user-zo7vp6zl3z]

And got paid a fraction of what he gets now 🤡

[@abdulrabbani4520]

@@user-zo7vp6zl3z lmfaooo I’m not arguing that one 😭😭😭😭 unfortunately, we’re both right.

[@z040880]

​​@@user-zo7vp6zl3z 2 things can be correct. He could have still went to the MMA after college. And probably would have been more ready 🤡

[@amanrob]

He always seemed to want to move onto something bigger and better way too soon like he was in a rush. He gave up on high school to focus on something bigger (freestyle/Olympics), skipped college wrestling, then he gave up on that after one cycle to move onto mma for money and fame. He's doing alright now, but he had a very rocky start in mma. I guess we'll see where his career goes.

[@e2go]

Couldn't have had a worse start. Dude got uppercutted and guillotined in a heartbeat.

[@apollo105]

Nah he knew all this wrestling was all bullshit. Brent metcalf said in an interview he made 4k to wrestle pico and pico made more. If the olympics was what he truly wanted there was no point in him wrestling in college. Hed get exploited and beat down like spencer lee but now here he is with a successful mma career

[@richiecabinian1336]

One of the biggest cons on wrestling was the pay. Very little money at the time. MMA was the way to earn money while training.

[@odaizureiqat]

I grew up watching Aaron pico highlights, amazing work ethic and truly an all time great wrestler. I wish we could’ve seen him on the ncaa level along with seeing him at least qualify for the Olympics, but from what I’ve seen his fight career has been really good so I hope he continues to show the world he’s a champion.

[@69Milkman]

thank you, My cousin will appreciate that what you said about him. Thank you very much! 💕

[@jaydenterronez6366]

Man you guys have been putting out some sick content lately. Really enjoyed this, as well as the Sushil Kumar video.

[@StaleMates]

Thank you! Appreciate this!

[@growrestling9765]

Good stuff. I am enjoying this style video. More please.

[@paulvanholbeck5542]

My boy tapped Pico out in that debut in Madison square garden .. the altar boy Zach freeman

[@henwen6080]

Solid win for Pico last night in Hawaii, been watching him for years, since the cadet worlds

[@greglarramendy9246]

Another great video, keep them coming :)

[@Alblooben]

Another great video! Keep ‘em comin

[@StaleMates]

That’s the plan!

[@williamoleary9330]

This one will always bother me that we never had the pleasure of watching Aaron compete at the Collegiate level. To me it just came across that money was more important to him and his family than going to College to compete while earning a degree. All of which would of been done on a full scholarship. We also lost him competing on the Senior level. He was lights out a fantastic freestyle wrestler as well. I just know he could of done this and still went on to compete in MMA and made a lot of money. I do think at some point he’ll regret not having gone to College and he’ll have to live with that. I just wish we could of watched him compete in College because he was a World Class wrestler and was so much fun to watch. Great video!

[@Dan.Lockner]

Great video- wish he’d come back and try for one more Olympics. He did get robbed, I thought.

[@StaleMates]

Thank you for watching!

[@pjp9840]

If the idea he was robbed is due to tiebreaker criteria, does that mean all the wrestlers who lose matches on said criteria were also robbed?

[@kineticsage8137]

@@pjp9840I’d say yes. Have them wrestle until there is a score

[@themotivatationcatch]

great work Zach

[@GarciaVideoProductions]

Great content dude. Take it to Flo! And it's free? Love it. Patreon is great. No pay wall except for live events. Just an option to support.

[@josephmalley8697]

I was wondering what happened to him. Thanks for the video!

[@StaleMates]

Thanks for watching!

[@soren00024]

hell yeah brother, another killer video

[@StaleMates]

Appreciate you!

[@nickherington9677]

Frank "The Criteria" Molinaro..... W over Metcalf by criteria, over Stieber by criteria, and over Pico.... by criteria

[@mspionage1743]

Turned out to be a horrible decision. Pico would have undoubtedly went on to win multiple titles, probably would have become an Olympian, had numerous advertising companies all lining up to pay him. It's too bad.

[@mspionage1743]

@Bob-xy5cnDo what?

[@Mma-basement-215]

He's only 26 the kid still has a chance of being anything he wants to be i still believe in the kid lets go Pico

[@gunswordfist]

At 11 years old he was what?! Jesus, I did not read enough about Aaron before he came to MMA

[@lawsonransom8318]

His father gave him terrible guidance. He most likely ruined his son's life because of his own egotistical greed.

[@matthofmann7517]

I wouldn’t say his life is ruined, 10-4 in bellator at 26 isnt awful. Lets say he wins his next 3 and goes to the UFC a 13-4 at 27, theres a solid 9 year window for damage to be done

[@isaibuezo6557]

@@matthofmann7517he doesn’t even have to go too the ufc too be successful he’s fighting for the title soon and can make bank on Bellator if he keeps winning

[@mingleii]

@@isaibuezo6557true that 💯

[@PJP-DJP]

​@matthofmann7517 for a guy with his pedigree those results are incredibly underwhelming. He could have been a multitime NCAA Champ and been on several world/Olympic teams before transitioning to MMA. Had he done that he would be virtually untouchable in MMA. To describe a pheonom him Pico as "isnt awful"(your words, not mine) in terms of outcome IS a failure.

[@lawsonransom8318]

@@PJP-DJP and now he has a severely dislocated shoulder=end of career.

[@LakeNonaFan]

Very interesting, thanks

[@dc1849]

Deserves at least 1 million subs

[@chrislav7280]

the Bender scene killed me lmfaoooooo

[@StaleMates]

Haha thank you!

[@ryanamundsen3163]

Well done

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

Great video.

[@sport-1178]

Sadly I feel that this also was beginning of the end for him and what happens when others self-interests trump his. Translation- other saw the $$$ and used that as a driving force to continual bad decisions.

[@grandmasterjam215]

smh so sad imo. rooting for him in his fight career but geez I remember him doing what people like gable steveson, kyle snyder, and (predictably) Bo Bassett are doing today. so young staring olympic gold in the face. I heard that he had always had mma in mind but I will never understand the decision to prematurely leave wrestling at a senior level the way he did. not to even mention what could’ve done at NCAAs. idk if it was chasing the bag or what, but someone should’ve told him he can do both..idk, I would have to sit down with Pico himself and a 12-pack to hear and understand why. and even then, it would still be hard for me to wrap my head around wasting such glorious talent. and I really don’t wanna use the word “waste” but even when you look at him fight he doesn’t really utilize his wrestling the way he could. I just don’t think I will ever understand. someone should’ve told him the cte can wait lol. i hope he reaches the glory he’s chasing and God bless him..but i’m not sure his mma career will be as legendary as what he could’ve done purely in the sport of wrestling. hope he proves me wrong

[@user-zt3hm5pl1u]

2:09 is that Merab???

[@kev4850]

Cade Olivas was one of those guys everyone talked about in CA too. And then he kinda became a mystery after a while

[@SJ-gk2km]

Was he the Bosco kid who was going to ASU at one point but had concussions and stopped wrestling?

[@EthenAsuncionWithAnE]

@@SJ-gk2kmyeah that’s the kid! i wrestle him in my senior year at masters and i felt hopeless lol

[@goldensourcemusicmarketing1552]

Great!!

[@onegenooneappleonetilly9234]

Yeah, and Pico made a big mistake picking Zack Freeman to fight in his MMA debut in Bellator. The dude got rocked in under a minute. 😂

[@dnoldy71]

The year molinaro stalled his way to the Olympics

[@gunswordfist]

...did you say 2016 and Aaron Pico looks like a 10 year old boy?! Ain't no way..

[@fierceposeidon4006]

do AJ Mckee plssss

[@genghiskhan7041]

What happened to Pico's wrestling career? Well he didn't have the grades to go to college and failed to make the Sr national team. He then gave up on wrestling and went into MMA, where he accomplished jack shit. He's currently ranked #43 in his weight class and has amassed a whole whopping $380,000 in career earnings. That's chump change, by the way.

[@jjmarcos]

College is a joke, 75% of the people there are idiots and the classes are a waste of time. Bunch of useless degree mills, taking peoples money.

[@brianegal2286]

Pico lost to Malinaro - people STILL wonder how Dake got past the guy. Especially when you see Burroughs beating the poor guy year after year after year... I would REALLY like to see Pico give it another try. Dake beat Burroughs after a decade - Pico may still have something in the tank! He easily beat Zain multiple times and he was no joke!

[@rhino447attack]

I always wonder what happened with him

[@pierce7390]

He kept getting knocked out at the beginning which dampened the hype, as a kid the opponents didn’t have the power as adults and his jaw couldn’t take brawls. 10-3 now working his way up.

[@e2go]

@@pierce7390 I mean... he was literally hyped as "the greatest MMA prospect of all-time" and got uppercutted and guillotined in seconds in his first fight, so yeah, the hype train got derailed more than a little bit.

[@joejohnson7385]

He's 10-4 in mma and has been finished in all 4 loses. He should of stuck with wrestling in high school, college and beyond.

[@russskidmore6893]

Yea he was literally " ahead of his time " like a full 2 years older than the kids he was competing against in highschool.

[@franciscobocanegra4076]

Still think pico would’ve done better in the Olympics than Frank

[@sams9732]

High school Freshman beating a college NCAA champion

[@edgewoodwrestling1643]

Is he still fighting? I haven’t heard anything from him....I saw him buy a 12 pack of Coronas at the grocery store, though.

[@cia4393]

He’s on a like a 7 fight win streak and is top 5 is featherweight division so yea

[@Robzrx]

Pushed too fast. Kid was a phenom but he was brought along too fast unfortunately.

[@daleb7372]

I remember hearing when Molinaro lost the last chance olympic qualifier. It was luck that the US qualified that weight. If Pico was a gold medal caliber wrestler he would have handled Molinaro easily. I was rooting for Pico back then, just didnt get it done.

[@user-ej2xz3lx2e]

Styles play a big part. It's hard to determine how far Aaron would've made it by just that simplistic barometer.

[@GQ-jr5ro]

His style n joining that john wink is what is derailing his Career. He need to leave Albuquerque Fast. But it seems hes just going thru the motions not really carring avout anything. I dont think he will ever be a CHAMP in MMA.

[@XxdeekillaxX]

Alex ciseneros was another ca all time great. That just went poof.

[@sanitary103]

I always wondered about him. Did he even wrestle division 1? If so how long?

[@XxdeekillaxX]

@@sanitary103 I could be super wrong but I believe he wrestled unattached with Cornell last I heard of him he was in a pyramid scheme. Kid was so nasty he should gone to Iowa or some where with a bigger program he probably could have.

[@genghiskhan7041]

I don't care if Pico comes back. He failed to make the national team and gave up like a professional quitter. Good riddance.

[@69Milkman]

On my whole family, Aaron Pico is my cousin and his nick name that we all call him is Cheeks. i know it sounds very fake, but im being very very serious. Aaron Pico is my cousin. He fights today

[@Seuspesos]

Pico is a beast but he wasn’t much of a scrambler or a top wrestler. I liked that he chose to forgo college I just wish he would have spent two or three Olympic cycles in the freestyle game, while fighting amateur MMA . His family has more than enough money to sustain him for that.

[@lacrosseareawrestlers4737]

Pico couldn’t hang with Yianni

[@dangerpowers4582]

I always wanted to see that match. They're both incredible wrestlers, but my money would be on Yianni.

[@pierce7390]

@@dangerpowers4582 they wrestled Pick lost.

[@dangerpowers4582]

@@pierce7390 I had no idea, thanks for that info. Any idea when and where that was?

[@dangerpowers4582]

There's no better collegiate wrestler(in my opinion) than Yianni -- at the moment. The only one who was better than him, in my opinion, was Cael Sanderson.

[@user-ej2xz3lx2e]

@@dangerpowers4582 what do you mean by "better?" Talented? Dominant? Winner? I mean you have Spencer Lee and Gable Stevenson.

[@isai8394]

Pico went to middle school with me at calvary chapel high school

[@JuggaknotPunch]

Pico only goal right now is to be a MMA champ..no money in wrestling anyways!

[@rolyrod69]

Teleprompter reading very noticeable BUT great video and content! Well done!