It’s a fight that might have seen the Bellator featherweight championship on the line just a few years ago, and it will finally arrive at UFC 327 this April.
Per UFC President and CEO Dana White, who announced the news on Friday, Patricio Pitbull (37-8), former Bellator featherweight champion, will face Aaron Pico (13-5) as part of the Miami, Florida-based card on April 11, 2026.
The event takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, FL and will be headlined by Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg for the newly vacated UFC light heavyweight championship.
Pitbull and Pico both arrived in the UFC in 2025 after being released from their contracts by the PFL. Brazil’s Pitbull, who also held a title at lightweight under the Bellator banner, is 1-1 in the UFC to date, having lost his debut against Yair Rodriguez, then following that performance up with a victory over Dan Ige.
Both bouts went the distance, Aaron Pico’s UFC debut did not. Once one of the hottest featherweight prospects on the planet, Pico found himself knocked out by Lerone Murphy at UFC 319 last August.
In Bellator, where he spent his entire career, he posted a 10-4 record, with his final assignment coming on the PFL vs. Bellator MMA card in February of 2024, after the Professional Fighters League had purchased the rival promotion.
Pico holds notable wins over Leandro Higo, Pedro Carvalho, and Henry Corrales and boasts 11 finishes among his 13 pro victories. Prior to his MMA career, Pico was a standout wrestler who took second place in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in freestyle wrestling, and was also a National Junior Golden Gloves boxer in his youth.
It may have taken years and a change in promotion to see the fight finally come together, but Patricio Pitbull and Aaron Pico are at long last set to throw down.
UFC 327 on April 11, 2026 currently features the following announced bouts:
- Jiří Procházka vs. Carlos Ulberg – for the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship
- Joshua Van (c) vs. Tatsuro Taira – for the UFC flyweight championship
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Josh Hokit
- Beneil Dariush vs. Manuel Torres
- Dominick Reyes vs. Johnny Walker
- Azamat Murzakanov vs. Paulo Costa
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics
- Patrício Pitbull vs. Aaron Pico
- Beneil Dariush vs. Manuel Torres
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Vicente Luque
- Nate Landwehr vs. Cub Swanson
- Christopher Alvidrez vs. Francisco Prado