ABU DHABI – If all went according to plan, Aaron Pico would be gearing up for a very different kind of UFC 333 matchup.
He could be fighting former bantamweight champion and No. 4-ranked featherweight Aljamain Sterling – but Sterling turned him down. He should be fighting No. 6 contender Arnold Allen – but Allen withdrew for health reasons about a month ago. That left Pico (14-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to accept a fight with unranked Losene Keita, whom he meets on Saturday's UFC 333 main card (Paramount+) at Etihad Arena.
Even though his UFC 333 fight booking turned out to be not as high profile as it could've been, seems to be OK with how things turned out.
"At the end of the day, this is what I do for a living," Pico told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. "I'm a warrior, and I've got to fight anybody that they put in front of me."
Pico, a longtime Bellator standout, got off to a disastrous UFC start last year when he suffered a first-round knockout against Lerone Murphy in his debut at UFC 319. After eight months off, though, Pico bounced back this past April with a unanimous decision win over Patricio Freire at UFC 327.
While Keita (17-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) isn't exactly who he hoped to be facing, Pico said he takes some solace in knowing the UFC had big plans for him after he rebounded with a solid performance.
"I do, but you know what? Saturday is going to be a good night for me," Pico said. "I feel very confident, not overly. If I just do my job and be smart, I think it's going to be a good night for us. But in MMA, anything can happen. But I'm very prepared for this, confident, one step closer to winning a championship with this victory."
Ever since Bellator signed him as a teenage blue-chip prospect from the amateur wrestling ranks, the expectations have been heavy on Pico. He never achieved becoming a Bellator champ after some ups and downs. That makes it that much more important to him that he gets it done in the UFC.
Although his outlook has changed over the years.
"I think when I was younger, I felt a lot of pressure," Pico said. "But as I've gotten older and a little bit wiser – I just turned 30 in September – I've learned that, in life, it's best to just take each day as it comes. I can't really look too far ahead, can't look back in the past. That's in the rearview mirror. So, the title will come when the title comes. I say it all the time: The most important fight is the one that's next, so this is the most important fight. God willing, if the (title) fight comes, I'll be ready for it, but I just live my life like that. When it comes, it comes.
"I don't try to stress out because, at the end of the day, if you do what's right and you have a good heart, life will be good for you one way or the other."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Aaron Pico 'very prepared' for unexpected UFC 333 fight vs. Losene Keita
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