nt"

SAN JOSE, Calif. – It wasn’t even one year ago that Aaron Pico couldn’t legally buy alcohol or go to a night club, even if he wanted to, yet there he was preparing to make his professional MMA debut.

The hype was through the roof given his super-prospect label thanks to an incredible wrestling pedigree and standout boxing. And the stage for his first professional fight was as big as it could get: Bellator NYC at Madison Square Garden.

You know the rest.

Disaster struck, and Pico was knocked out in a mere 24 seconds by a virtual unknown. How would the then-20-year-old rebound?

Well, since that debut loss, Pico (2-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) has put together back-to-back knockout wins and enters Bellator 199 with a new focus as he prepares to meet veteran Lee Morrison (19-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on the Paramount-televised main card Saturday night at SAP Center.

The way Pico sees it, his MMA development is right where it should be, especially now that he’s pouring everything into the sport instead of individually concentrating on wrestling and boxing.

“I’m making really big, drastic leaps with my MMA. … My whole focus six days a week is to become the best fighter in the world,” Pico, 21, told MMAjunkie on Thursday. “When you have that and you have a good team, and you’re surrounded by good coaches, and you’re focused and want to learn, you’re going to go as far as you want to go by just taking the time to learn, to relax and absorb as much as you can. That’s just what I’ve been doing the last 11 months, and my MMA has gone through the roof.”

The proof is in his most recent performances. In September, he followed up his debut loss with a one-punch knockout of Justin Linn in the first round at Bellator 183. Then at Bellator 192 this past January, Pico used a nasty body punch to finish Shane Krutchen in just 37 seconds.

Morrison represents Pico’s fourth fight in fewer than 11 months. While Pico has gained valuable experience, his total in-cage time hasn’t even amassed one full round. Which, when you think about it, is kind of a good problem but kind of isn’t.

If anything, it just means more fights.

“Obviously I’m very active. It’s been 11 months since I’ve been a pro, four fights,” Pico said. “I want to keep it that way, have a good time. If I can get the job done early and stay healthy in fights, why not? Just keep winning and making money.”

He continued, “I always said, if I’m healthy, and I can get the job done, I want to continue to fight. I can only get better. For me, right now, personally I need more time in the cage. I haven’t even had a full round yet.”

But don’t expect Pico to change his approach just for the sake of experience.

“If I can get it done early, then great. That’s the best way,” he said. “I don’t want to be like, “Oh, I need to get a three-round fight.’ My whole job is to get it done as fast as possible, get out of there and go home. That’s been my plan all along.”

Pico’s already come a long way in under 11 months. But he’s also still got a ways to go before he can become a bona fide star and world champion that many people believe he will be in due time.

That’s the pressure he lives with every day, which is just fine with him.

“Right now, I feel the same amount of pressure as I did from my first fight,” Pico said. “I just made a mistake in my first fight. And I learned from it. So that’s the biggest thing I could possibly do. But I don’t care if I’m going to be fighting for the title or if it’s just a normal fight, I treat it all the same. I put the expectations on myself very high. Nothing changes. The pressure is always going to be the same. Until the last fight I have in my career, I’m going to be feeling the same amount of nerves. …

“I feel the pressure all the time. But that’s what motivates me, that’s what keeps me going. If you don’t feel that, then what’s the point of training.”

For more on Bellator 199, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.