Aaron Pico vs. Otto Rodrigues, Mads Burnell vs. Justin Gonzales Set for Bellator 295

Aaron Pico will return to action for the first time since injuring his shoulder this past October when he faces Otto Rodrigues at Bellator 295.

MMAjunkie.com was first to report the featherweight booking. Additionally, MMFighting.com has confirmed that a 145-pound clash pitting Mads Burnell against Justin Gonzales is also set for the event. Bellator 295 takes place at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 22 and is headlined by a bantamweight grand prix final matchup between Raufeon Stots and Patrick Mix.

Pico suffered a first-round TKO loss to Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator 286 due to a shoulder injury suffered in the bout. That snapped a six-bout Bellator winning streak for the 26-year-old Jackson-Wink MMA product.

A 34-year-old native of Rio de Janeiro, Rodrigues has compiled a 13-1 mark since beginning his professional tenure in 2007. Most recently, Rodrigues outpointed Carlos Augusto Santos da Silva at LFA 112 in July 2021.

Denmark’s Burnell is coming off an 0-2 campaign in 2022 that saw him drop unanimous verdicts against Adam Borics and Pedro Carvalho. Prior to that, he had compiled a seven-bout winning streak that included three triumphs under the Bellator banner.

After suffering the first loss of his professional career to Pico in November 2021, Gonzales rebounded with wins over Kai Kamaka III and Andrew Fisher in Bellator competition last year. “J-Train” owns a 14-1 career mark.