A.J. McKee is as good as advertised.
In one of the biggest nights in Bellator history, McKee (18-0) showed why he should be considered among the best featherweights in the world. The undefeated 26-year-old steamrolled through the most decorated champion in Bellator history, Patricio Freire (32-5), dropping the Brazilian with an early left head kick before submitting Freire with guillotine choke at 1:57 of Round 1.
With the win, McKee emerged as the lone man standing from Bellator’s 16-man featherweight tournament and captured its $1 million grand prize, in addition to seizing Freire’s long-held featherweight title
“All my dreams are coming true. This is amazing,” McKee said in front of his raucous hometown crowd at The Forum in Los Angeles, Calif.
“This is just the beginning, so we’re just getting started. I’m looking forward to holding this baby for the rest of my life. It ain’t going nowhere.”
The performance was the culmination of a lifelong journey for McKee that began in his infant years, when the youngster would accompany his father and eventual head coach, 38-fight MMA veteran Antonio McKee, to the gym on a daily basis in the early days of the sport, with young McKee growing up surrounded by Hall of Famers like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz. It’s no exaggeration to say that for McKee — who cruised through Bellator’s bracket with stoppages of Georgi Karakhanyan, Derek Campos, and Darrion Caldwell — Saturday’s main event was a moment truly a lifetime in the making.
And he was nearly perfect.
After an early feeling out process, McKee slammed a high kick into Freire then swarmed forward with punches and dropped his hurt foe. Mistakenly believing the fight to be over, McKee then walked away celebrating with his hands in the air, before rushing back into the pocket and latching onto Freire’s neck. “Pitbull” never tapped, but he did appear to be out, as referee Mike Beltran stopped the contest with both men leaning up against the fence.
“I felt him go limp a little bit, so that’s what kind of gave me it,” McKee said. “I knew he was already rocked, so I felt him buckle a little bit — I was like, alright, that’s it.”
The loss snapped a seven-fight win streak for Freire that dated back to 2016 and marked the first time Freire lost due to a non-injury stoppage in his entire career.
Because was a two-division champion, Freire remains the Bellator lightweight titleholder, although McKee made a point to state multiple times in the lead-up to Bellator 263 that he wanted to move up and challenge for Freire’s lightweight belt if he won.
