For most of its 13-year history – certainly since Scott Coker took over the promotion in 2014 – Bellator MMA has been chasing superstars. Legends like Fedor Emelianenko, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva – hell, even guys like Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie – had stepped into the circle over the last several years.
None of those names have ever made a dent in Bellator’s bid for mainstream recognition. Instead, they’ve only given the promotion a reputation as the sport’s “old folks’ home.” But in 2021, Bellator has finally stumbled across its first real superstar. He’s young, brash, exciting, ludicrously talented, a world champion, and one of the best fighters on the planet. And he’s been there all along, right under our noses.
A.J. McKee has spent his entire professional career fighting in Bellator, debuting in 2015 in an unaired dark match on the undercard of the Will Brooks–Dave Jansen lightweight title fight. (Legitimately felt like a big fight at the time, trust me.) On Saturday night, McKee won Bellator’s featherweight title and the biggest tournament in its history, the 16-man Featherweight Grand Prix, by knocking out Bellator’s consensus GOAT, two-division champion Patricio Pitbull, inside of two minutes.
It was exactly the moment Coker has been searching after for seven years. Bellator has filled its undercards with youngsters, trying to get in on the ground floor on some bright talents, hoping one of them catches fire. It’s finally happened with McKee, who at 18-0 has placed his name firmly in the mix of the greatest featherweights in the world.
A.J. McKee was born and raised to be a great mixed martial artist. His father was UFC veteran Antonio McKee, who put together a 30-6-2 pro record in a nearly 20-year career and who has coached his son since he was a kid. But while the elder McKee was actually an extremely boring fighter to watch – very adept at what he did, for sure, but a guy who took opponents down and laid on them – he’s raised his son to be one of the most exciting talents on Earth, pulsating with style and flair every time he steps into the cage.
McKee has an innovative, fascinating ground game and a striking game that can be wild, but captivating. But against Pitbull, he showed that he has what it takes to be one of the greatest fighters in the world, full stop. Against the most dangerous opponent he’s ever faced, one of the strongest and most powerful featherweights of all time, McKee’s performance was almost shockingly disciplined.
McKee entered with a huge height and reach advantage, and he settled down and used it. He waited. He found his range. He looked for his opening. And when he found it, he whacked Pitbull upside the head with a kick, pounced on him, and finished him. This was A.J. McKee growing up, fighting smart, and executing a gameplan. And when a fighter as unbelievably talented as McKee fights smart, he can do anything.
It was stunning. All week long I had this vision of McKee, fighting as he did against guys like Derek Campos and John Macapa, ducking in wildly on an overhand and getting put to sleep by one of Pitbull’s hammer counter blows. But McKee never gave him the chance. In doing so, he made beating Patricio Pitbull – long regarded as one of the best fighters outside of the UFC, if not the best – look easy.
It was the greatest triumph imaginable for Bellator’s talent development system. Finally, Bellator has produced a world-class talent of its very own, one that you could imagine hanging in with the UFC’s best: Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, Brian Ortega. But beyond that, McKee has the chance to be the eyeball-drawing superstar that the promotion has always lacked.
McKee’s win over Pitbull got more attention than any Bellator fight in years, a combination of the fantastic matchup, the two-year buildup, and the fact that the UFC’s offering on Saturday night was so comparatively poor. And those who tuned in for the fight, perhaps many of whom checking out Bellator for the first time, saw McKee put on a fantastic performance, earn a highlight-reel finish, and win the belt.
McKee is charismatic, photogenic, and in his prime. He knows how to talk, and he knows how to sell himself. He’s never lost, and his performances in the cage have been impressive at every turn. He looks like he can be the best fighter at the best weight class in MMA. And should he choose to stay, and not chase the bright lights of the UFC, he could be a difference-maker for the second fiddle in the American MMA landscape.
We knew all along that A.J. McKee had this kind of potential. But he’s not the future anymore, he’s the present. Now, he has the fate of Bellator MMA on his shoulders.
The Big Fight 