Aaron Pico has fallen victim to a submission once. And Leandro Higo believes he can make it happen again this Saturday.

That doesn’t mean Higo (18-4 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) doesn’t see Pico (3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) as a good opponent. In fact, the former 135-pound title challenger is well aware of Pico’s strengths – namely, his world-class wrestling and the sharp hands that have brought upon a golden gloves title and first-round endings to his past three fights.

“He’s not a champion yet, because he still has to fight me. After losing to me, he’s going to be a champion,” Higo told MMAjunkie ahead of Bellator 206. “He’s a big name and a guy everyone knows Bellator is trying to build. It’s going to be a very good fight. It’s a guy who’s been showing a lot of aggressiveness. He has good boxing, and he was also a wrestling world champion.”

But MMA, Higo points out, is about more than just separate skills. It’s about the sum of the parts. And as he prepares to venture into a division above his usual one, against one of the promotion’s most talked-about prospects, Higo sees absolutely nothing to fear.

“I will impose my game, and I won’t have this mentality, ‘Aaron Pico has good boxing, has good wrestling,’” Higo said. “I have that, too. My opponent has to see I have that, too. My hand is very heavy. I think it’s never been as heavy as it is now that my weight is different. Almost every sparring session here, something different happens – a hand lands, sometimes a kick. I’m very happy with that.

“… Feeling Aaron Pico’s hand won’t be different than feeling a 155-pounder’s hand. I’m a bantamweight who trains with featherweight and lightweights. I sometimes avoid training with 135-pounders, because I hurt them.”

The featherweight bout is part of the DAZN-streamed main card of Saturday’s Bellator 206, which takes place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

While Higo’s camp was done, as usual, alongside Bellator’s iconic “Pitbull” brothers Patricky and Patricio Freire, it has been a little different than usual. While he always eats well, Higo says, the featherweight division’s extra pounds certainly make for less pressure. He no longer has to be too concerned about specific workouts, like early-morning runs, and gets to focus more of his energy on technical training and making adjustments on his game.

Gallery Photos: Best of Aaron Pico view 18 images

Being healthy, happy and injury-free helps. But, also, Higo came into it with lessons learned from his failed bantamweight title big against Darrion Caldwell. Then, Higo says, he was overly concerned with what his opponent could bring – now, the focus is on his own game.

And it’s one that he believes is more complete than Pico’s.

“He doesn’t kick. I kick,” Higo said. “I throw knees, I throw spinning punches. And there’s my jiu-jitsu, which is an edge. If he tries to grapple with me after my hand lands, he’ll go to the ground.”

In fact, Higo views a grappling exchange as pretty much an inevitability in this particular featherweight matchup.

And if he turns out to be right?

“I’ve seen he has no jiu-jitsu, and I’ll submit him,” Higo said.

If Higo does pull off what Zack Freeman did in Pico’s Bellator debut, and walks away with a submission win, a few avenues are bound to open. Especially if you consider that, looking to increase his activity, he’s looking to take them in two different divisions.

At featherweight, there’s a name Higo has long been aiming at: James Gallagher. And it’s an interest, Higo says, that remains despite Gallagher’s recent devastating knockout loss at Bellator 204.

“He talks a lot of crap,” Higo said. “He wants to be something he is not. He wants to be Conor McGregor, but Conor McGregor says it and gets it done. If he says he’s going to get a first-round knockout, he goes in there and gets the knockout. And Gallagher is a lot of talk and little action.”

Higo also has a potential target in the bantamweight division, though the reasons for wanting him are a little more wholesome.

“(I want to fight) Joe Warren, but with him it’s because I’m a fan,” Higo said. “I grew up watching him compete at Bellator. He was a champion, and he’ll leverage my name.”

Taking a bantamweight bout, Higo points out, would involve a bit of a longer notice because of the weight adjustments. But it’s also where his title allegiance lies.

“I won’t rest until I don’t get that 135-pound belt,” Higo said. “It’s a bit of a matter of honor. Because I hit the goalpost twice, but next time I will score the goal.”

Higo has, indeed, come close to 135-pound gold twice. His Bellator debut was supposed to have been for the title – up until the day before, when Higo missed weight for the Bellator 177 meeting with Eduardo Dantas, and the belt was no longer on the line. The bout went on, and Dantas narrowly edged out Higo with a split decision.

Higo credentialed himself to compete for the 135-pound title after that, with a win over Joe Taimanglo, before the Caldwell loss. But not only is Higo not deterred from his goal – he’s got an ambitious deadline to make it happen.

“I told Bellator I wouldn’t sign their contract to be just another guy,” Higo said. “I told them I’d sign it to be champion. And I have it in my mind when I wake up. I have a very big belt on my fridge. Whenever I go get a glass of water, I’m focused on it. And in one year, I want to fight for the world title again.”

For more on Bellator 206, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.