A.J. McKee has made the decision to move to 155 dollars, although he acknowledges that it was not his first choice.
On Wednesday, Bellator announced that McKee will not face Patricio Pitbull in a trilogy bout for the featherweight title at Bellator 286, but instead the ex-champ and grand prix winner will face UFC vet Spike Carlyle in his lightweight debut, which takes place Oct. 1 in McKee’s hometown of Long Beach, Calif. Coincidentally, Pitbull will defend his title on the same card in the main event against Adam Borics.
While McKee has talked about moving up in weight class in the past, he explains why it’s happening now.
“No rematch,” McKee stated to MMA Fighting. McKee stated that he was not offered a match and that he would rather put his body through all to reach 145 weight. “I was looking at my belt yesterday, thinking, ‘I have five names on my belt that I scratched out, that I personally took out .’
.
“I honestly didn’t find the rematch interesting in the first instance, but I’m not afraid to take on fights. If you bring me a fight, I will take it. Pitbull was my second opponent. I wasn’t motivated and it was unsettling for me, my team, as well as the entire world who knows mixed martial arts. He didn’t beat me the first time, and it’s weird because he talks about ‘kick for kick.’ If you look at the kick for kick he’s talking about, I blocked his kick with my forearm and he tasted my shin with his mouth. I don’t know, it’s real weird.
“He says he wants the fight, but the fight was never offered, and now he’s fighting Borics. He may be a great fighter, so hats off to Borics. But, if he insists on fighting, we can fight. It doesn’t matter if I win or lose. But, it was an awful loss that made me want to slap my a**. My first loss, but it was the fire I needed under my butt.”
McKee stopped Pitbull in less than two minutes to win the title at Bellator 263 in July 2021. In April, they met at Bellator 277, again. Pitbull won the title with an unanimous decision — something McKee believes he should have gotten.
Although the move to lightweight was exciting, there were mixed feelings, particularly after how Pitbull’s second fight ended.
“I get bored, bro. McKee stated that McKee had starched McKee in under two minutes. “So I’m supposed to be excited to go fight you again? Nah, bro. He couldn’t beat him even though I was at my lowest point. That was my most difficult day. That was a fight where I was in there and I didn’t want to be in there — just keep him away, stay long, and pick him apart. There was no need to try and finish him. As the champion, I said, “Hey, let’s see what we have to offer.”
I would love to see you fight for me.
“The fact that he’s coming to my city and fighting on the card against Borics to defend the title that he knows he didn’t really win — I mean, he ‘won,’ but whatever — but at the end of the day, I just want to fight. I get tired of sitting around, and every time we fight, he damn near takes a year break. With me, I want to get in there two months, three months later. My body gets acclimated sitting at 170, 180 pounds, and then eight months go by and it’s like, ‘Hey, want to fight?’ Not really, I’m enjoying snowboarding season, trying to enjoy my life. This fight sport has been a part of my life for a while.
“The Pitbulls have pulled out many fights. I do not pull out. They talk about fear — I fear no man, and that’s factual. Come test it if you’re interested. He’s already tested it and doesn’t want to do it again .”
Had Bellator presented McKee with the option to stay at 145 to face Pitbull a third time, or turn the page to a more healthy weight cut, the 27-year-old still would’ve chosen the former — especially now knowing where the event will take place.
“That wasn’t an option, but if it was an option, I would’ve taken [the title fight],” McKee explained. “Now you’re coming to my city. You came to Inglewood, now you’re coming to the ‘Strong Beach,’ it’s a wrap. Did you think the Forum had an insane energy? See what happens in Long Beach.
“But I was offered a fight, I asked if it was the rematch, they said no, and I said I was moving up to 155. They announced Pitbull against Borics, and I was shocked. It was amazing. You’re coming to my city to fight [Borics]? Hell no.’ I was a little upset, but I’m not tripping, dude. I am moving on to better and bigger .”
After two back-to-back defeats, Carlyle leaves the UFC and enters his second Bellator bout with five consecutive wins. This includes victories in LFA, Cage Warriors and RIZIN. In his first promotional bout, “The Alpha Ginger” had an incredible comeback to stop Dan Moret via third-round submission at Bellator 272 in December.
McKee knows how difficult and challenging his opponent is even though there may be Bellator fans that are not.
“Everyone’s saying, ‘You’re not fighting a ranked opponent.’ What does that matter? [Nurmagomedov] was just fighting someone who wasn’t ranked, and he [was] no. 3 on the rankings,” McKee continued. “If it was up to me, I’d be whooping [Patricky’s] ass, but clearly he doesn’t want to fight. That’s why he pulled out of the fight against [Sidney Outlaw], who just got knocked out by the dude that whooped [Patricky’s] ass in Japan. It’s not something I would like to do.
” I’m eager to be back in the cage. New goals, new tasks, man. This new chapter will be exciting for me. [I’m going to be] faster, stronger, bigger, walking around at 175 consistent right now, so I’m loving it.”
This website uses cookies.