NEW YORK – Aaron Pico finally reverted to his wrestling roots in his seventh MMA fight, and while it seemed to pay off, it only took one shot from Adam Borics to end the fight by knockout.

Following a brutal knockout loss in his previous outing, Pico (4-3 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) changed fight camps to Jackson Wink MMA in Albuquerque, N.M., and showed some evolution in his approach against Borics (13-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA). Pico avoided brawling and instead wrestled, which his opponent had no answers for.

Until he did.

Borics went airborne in the second round and landed a clean flying knee that ended the featherweight bout in stunning fashion Friday night at Bellator 222 from Madison Square Garden.

From the outset, it was obvious Pico made some adjustments. He threw some heavy punches in Borics’ direction, but more than anything they were a setup for the takedown. Pico grounded Borics multiple times in the frame, but to his credit Borics wasn’t willing to concede positions for too long. He kept moving from bottom and scrambled to his feet at every opportunity.

Pico proceeded to see a second round for the first time in his career. He stuck true to the gameplan, taking Borics to the ground and holding him in difficult positions. They spent the majority of the round against the cage before Borics finally got back up to his feet with just over a minute left in the frame. He clipped Pico with a head kick that was partially blocked then went right into a flying knee that connected and dropped Pico to the canvas. A few follow-up punches forced referee Dan Miragliotta to step in and wave it off at the 3:55 mark of Round 2.

Borics remained undefeated through 13 fights with the result, while Pico has dropped back-to-back contests for the first time.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 222 results include:

• Adam Borics def. Aaron Pico via knockout (flying knee) –  Round 2, 3:55
• Valerie Loureda def. Larkyn Dasch via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Lindsey VanZandt def. Rena Kubota via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:04
• Haim Gozali def. Gustavo Wurlitzer via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:02
• Mike Kimbel def. Sebastian Ruiz via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
• Robson Gracie Jr. def. Oscar Vera via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:15
• Marcus Surin def. Nekruz Mirkhojaev via split decision (30-27, 27-29, 29-27)
• Phil Hawes def. Michael Wilcox via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00

For complete coverage of Bellator 222, check out the MMA Events section of the site.