Aaron Pico vs. Jeremy Kennedy, Juan Archuleta vs. Enrique Barzola Set for Bellator 286

The Bellator 286 lineup continues to grow with the addition of two new bouts, as Aaron Pico faces Jeremy Kennedy at featherweight, whle Juan Archuleta meets Enrique Barzola at bantamweight.

The promotion confirmed the pairings following an initial report from ESPN. Bellator 286 takes place on Oct. 1 at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Patricio Freire and Adam Borics. In the co-main event, A.J. McKee makes his lightweight debut against Spike Carlyle.

Four preliminary bouts were also confirmed for the event: Max Rohskopf vs. Mike Hamel at lightweight; Islam Mamedov vs. Nick Browne at lighweight; Keoni Diggs vs. Ricardo Seixas at lightweight and Khadzhimurat Bestaev vs. Khalid Murtazaliev at middleweight.

Pico and Kennedy were initially slated to lock horns at Bellator 277 in April before Kennedy withdrew from the bout. Pico remained on the card and defeated Adli Edwards via third-round technical knockout, his sixth consecutive victory within the California-based promotion. All but one of those triumphs have come inside the distance.

Kennedy last appeared at Bellator 272, where he took a unanimous decision over former 145-pound title challenger Emmanuel Sanchez on Dec. 3. The 29-year-old Canadian went 3-1 during a UFC stint from 2016 to 2018, with his only setback coming to reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. He’s also competed in Professional Fighters League and Brave Combat Federation while compiling a 17-3 career mark.

A former bantamweight champion, Archuleta is currently on a two-bout skid. After losing the belt in a five-round decision defeat to Sergio Pettis at Bellator 258, “The Spaniard” suffered a third-round knockout loss to Raufeon Stots in the quarterfinals of the bantamweight grand prix at Bellator 279. The former King of the Cage champion is 7-3 during his Bellator tenure.

Barzola, meanwhile, signed with Bellator after a 6-3-1 stint in the UFC. He began his tenure with wins over Darrion Caldwell and Nikita Mikailov before suffering a fourth-round submission defeat to Magomed Magomedov in the quarterfinals of the 135-pound bracket at Bellator 282.