Patricio Pitbull avenged his loss to A.J. McKee will reclaim his Bellator gold in San Jose, Calif. on Friday. He is available for another night with “Mercenary” the next.
Still unbeaten in rematches — an impressive 6-0 run against fighters he has faced previously in Bellator — Pitbull admits McKee was “stuck” in his throat after the first finish of his career in 2021, a guillotine choke that the Brazilian insists he never tapped on. Pitbull stated that he believed he was better than him .”
months later.
“That is why I didn’t give up, and insisted that I ran it back so he could beat me,” Pitbull stated in an interview to MMA Fighting following his victory at Bellator 277.. I kept my head strong, and A.J. was always there to help me. McKee was always in my mind during every training session. Since that fight, every move I did was to return the belt to Brazil .”
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Pitbull stated that he did not underestimate McKee before their meeting in California. Pitbull says McKee looked beyond him this time.
“He was too cocky,” Pitbull said. “Not only the way he talked about the fight but the way he behaved in general. Although he had a very easy fight, I’m proud of who I am. Take a look at what I have done to the division [fight].. I am still the guy who knocked people out of the GP. I had one loss, but I’m still the same guy. He didn’t expect me to frustrate him as much as that .”
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It’s still unclear if McKee will stay at 145 pounds or move up to lightweight next, and Pitbull said the former champion “should move up if he doesn’t feel well in this weight class.” That said, he wants an immediate tiebreaker with McKee at featherweight.
” If he wishes to complete the trilogy, Pitbull stated that he must do it at featherweight. “But if wants it at 155, I’d suggest him putting the million dollars he won in the GP on the line because I won’t go up without a belt [on the line] or for nothing, in a fight that doesn’t make sense [to me] because I just won. Put his million dollars on the line and we’ll start talking.
“[This win] purified my soul,” he said. “I was very upset with the things the media and fans were talking, you know? “His legacy has ended, it’s gone. We have another champion, he is a badass and he never lost and he’s big. All these adjectives can be used to describe someone who’s never been defeated. There is no one unbeatable. You will lose if you don’t stop fighting. This is what happened to me. It was unbeatable, and I got beat. A.J. looked unbeatable after beating me, and then he lost. The sport has defeats. I work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen, but it does.”
If McKee doesn’t stay at featherweight for the trilogy, Pitbull sees Adam Borics as the rightful contender after Borics defeated Mads Burnell via decision in March improve to 18-1 in the sport.
“He is a kickboxer who has had problems in the past with takedowns, jiu jitsu and other facets of kickboxing. But it seems like he’s now on a team that’s fixed that problem,” he stated. “He’s a kickboxer that doesn’t knock people out that much, and I think it’s a very interesting fight. Let’s get him down .”
