Justin Gonzales Takes Aim at Aaron Pico’s Biggest Flaw
The “J-Train” believes he’s going to run over Aaron Pico at Bellator 271.
After scoring a successful promotional debut by edging out Tywan Claxton in a narrow split decision at Bellator 260, Justin Gonzales (12-0, 1-0 Bellator) is now set to take on wrestling prodigy Pico. While talking with Sherdog, Gonzales stated that he understands pretty well the hype behind Pico before adding that his accomplishments inside the cage earned him a fair share of respect. However, the Dana White's Contender Series alum is confident that he will exploit all the holes in Pico’s game.
“He goes out, and he puts it on the line every time,” the Top Notch MMA representative said. “Like I said before and like the world knows, he either puts people out or he gets put out. As a fighter, you got to respect that, respect what he does, but as somebody who I’m going up against, I feel like he has a lot of holes in his game that I can point out. It’s hard, man, because he puts people out, and he’s has a little bit of highlight reel, so I think he deserves a little bit about what he got.”
Gonzales pointed at his opponent's over-commitment to land his punches when asked the main flaw he sees in Pico’s fighting style.
“He tries to power-punch too much,” he added. “Looping punches [and then] panic wrestles. He’s fought a lot of guys who weren’t good grapplers, so you get away with some certain things.”
Gonzales also gave his prediction for the fight, talked about the latest installment in the “Halloween” franchise, his victory over Clayton, and more.
Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.