Rashad Evans sees the stakes clearly heading into UFC 327, and in his view, Patricio Freire is under more pressure than Aaron Pico when they clash in a featured featherweight preliminary bout.
Freire meets Pico at UFC 327 at Kaseya Center in Miami, in a matchup available on Paramount+ and CBS. Freire enters with a 37-8 MMA record and 1-1 mark in the UFC, while Pico is 13-5 in MMA and 0-1 in the UFC.
“I would say 'Pitbull' (needs the win more), and I would say so because he reached higher heights than Pico has ever reached outside the UFC,” Evans said. “He's coming in there with that legendary career already in another organization. You've got to come somewhat to fulfill high-level competitiveness to really validate what his legend is. The story of him would be, 'Yeah, 'Pitbull' was good, but that was like in Bellator.' That would really cast not the best light on him.”
Evans contrasted that with Pico’s career arc so far. “With Pico, Pico's always one of those fighters who has so much potential and more or less waited to realize that potential and has had moments,” he said. “There's times where Pico has looked absolutely amazing, like a world beater and then something will happen where you get caught or something like that and it's like, 'Dang.' So I think it's bigger for 'Pitbull,' because I feel like his legacy hangs in the balance of being that top competitor in the UFC.”
