On short notice, Bellator MMA was able to find someone to take on
Aaron
Pico in a little over a week.
On Thursday,
MMA Junkie reported that Jeremy
Kennedy has been forced out of his match with Pico for
currently undisclosed reasons. TSN
Sports reported on Thursday night that Adli
Edwards (9-1) will be stepping in for Kennedy to face Pico
(9-3) at
Bellator 277. The match will remain at featherweight, and it
will go down on April 15 at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
Edwards confirmed this pairing on his Instagram shortly
after its announcement.
Edwards will be making his promotional debut less than two weeks
removed from his victory at XMMA
4 on April 2. At that event in Louisiana, he submitted Josh
Harvey, despite Harvey missing weight by nearly a full weight
class to extend his win streak to seven. With a shade over half his
wins coming by stoppage, all of his finishes have come in the
opening frame. “Sunshine” has never been finished as a pro.
Pico will be looking to make it six wins in a row, and in his last
time out, he went the distance for the first time in his 12-bout
career. Pico could not finish, and was not finished by Justin
Gonzales, and he settled for a clear-cut unanimous decision
victory. Before then, all eight of his triumphs came inside the
distance, with the majority via strikes. The 25-year-old prospect
has still yet to go to decision in defeat, with all three of his
setbacks by stoppage in under three rounds.
Bellator 277 will carry on at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.,
on April 15. The headliner will bring a high-stakes rematch for the
featherweight crown, when A.J. McKee
attempts to defend his throne for the first time against the man he
took it from in Patricio
Freire. The co-main event will also put gold on the line, with
champ Vadim
Nemkov and Corey
Anderson battling it out for the tournament title as well as
the light heavyweight strap, along with a $1 million check.