Tag: AJ McKee

Major changes to Bellator X Rizin 2: A.J. McKee out; Patricky Freire faces RIZIN champ; Patricio ‘Pitbull’ added

Major changes tweak Bellator X Rizin 2 in Japan, including the removal of A.J. McKee and random addition of Patricio Freire in a new bout.

Saturday’s Bellator x Rizin 2 has been hit with a pair of changes to the lineup during fight week, including the loss of one half of the main event.

[autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag], who was set to take on [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag] in a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal bout, is now out with a medical issue. Stepping in to face Freire (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA) on short notice is RIZIN lightweight champion [autotag]Roberto de Souza[/autotag] (15-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in the new main event, the promotions announced during a joint news conference Wednesday local time.

Details about McKee’s medical issues were not disclosed, but a Bellator official told MMA Junkie he will be an alternate in the tournament moving forward. De Souza is now officially in the Bellator lightweight grand prix, and the bout against Patricky Freire will be five rounds. However, due to the short-notice nature of the change, the bout will be contested at 161 pounds.

In addition to a shift in the headliner, a late addition will see the other “Pitbull,” Bellator featherweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-6 MMA), take on [autotag]Chihiro Suzuki[/autotag] (10-3) in a 154-pound catchweight contest – an additional bout added to the event on just days’ notice. This bout will take place on the RIZIN portion of the event, which follows the five-fight Bellator segment of the card.

Bellator X Rizin 2 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event airs live on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET. The co-feature bout will crown an inaugural Bellator flyweight champion, as Kyoji Horiguchi takes on Makoto Shinryu.

With the changes, the Bellator X Rizin 2 lineup includes:

  • Patricky Freire vs. Roberto de Souza – lightweight grand prix quarterfinal
  • Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Shinryu – inaugural flyweight title
  • Magomed Magomedov vs. Danny Sabatello
  • Veta Arteaga vs. Kana Watanabe
  • Andrey Koreshkov vs. Lorenz Larkin

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator x Rizin 2.

Bellator X Rizin 2 to feature AJ McKee vs. Patricky Freire, Kyoji Horiguchi in inaugural men’s flyweight title fight

Bellator returns to Japan in July to continue the lightweight world grand prix and crown an inaugural men’s flyweight champion.

Bellator is returning to Japan this summer for a second co-promoted event with Rizin to continue its world lightweight grand prix and crown and inaugural men’s flyweight champion.

Bellator X Rizin 2 takes place July 30 at Saitama Super Arena, and the main event will see a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal bout between former featherweight champion [autotag]AJ McKee[/autotag] (20-1 MMA, 20-1 BMMA) and former lightweight champion [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag] (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA).

In the co-feature, Bellator opens the doors to a new men’s flyweight division as former Bellator and Rizin champion [autotag]Kyoji Horiguichi[/autotag] (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) takes on Makoto Takahashi (16-1-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). The winner will become the inaugural Bellator men’s flyweight champion.

Bellator announced the event and the featured bouts in a press release Saturday morning.

While the first cross-promoted event which took place on New Year’s Eve featured head-to-head bouts between Bellator and Rizin fighters, the second iteration departs from that format. However, the unique event will see Bellator bouts taking place inside a cage whereas Rizin bouts will take place in a ring. The Bellator fighters will wear red and blue Bellator gloves, while the world grand prix competitors will wear white gloves.

Also announced is a women’s flyweight bout between Kana Watanabe and Veta Artega. Bellator fighters Juan Archuleta and Tofiq Musayev will also be in action during the Rizin portion of the card.

The Bellator X Rizin 2 event’s lineup includes:

  • AJ McKee vs. Patricky Freire – lightweight grand prix quarterfinal bout
  • Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Takahashi – inaugural flyweight title bout
  • Kana Watanabe vs. Veta Artega

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Video: Watch Bellator 277/279 pre-fight press conference live (2:45 p.m. ET)

Watch the Bellator 277/279 pre-fight press conference with AJ McKee, Patricio ‘Pitbull’, Vadim Nemkov, and Corey Anderson.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – You can watch today’s press conference from SAP Center in advance of Bellator 277 here on MMA Junkie starting at 2:45 p.m. ET.

Bellator president [autotag]Scott Coker[/autotag] hosts the event, which features the four competitors in the main and the co-main event of Friday’s card. Bellator featherweight champion [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (18-0 MMA, 18-0 BMMA) and former champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (32-5 MMA, 20-5 BMMA) will take part in the press conference ahead of their main event championship rematch. The light heavyweight grand prix championship competitors will also be present, champion [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (15-2 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) and challenger [autotag]Corey Anderson[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA).

Bellator 277 takes place on Friday at SAP Center. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

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MMA rankings report, 2021 review: Who made the biggest leap during the year?

Bellator champ Yaroslav Amosov and UFC champ Glover Teixeira were among those who shot up the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings in 2021.

Before another exciting year of fights begin in 2022, John Morgan and “Gorgeous” George Garcia look back at the biggest movers in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings during 2021.

Which fighters stood out in shooting up their respective divisions this past year? You can watch the video above for discussion on the fighters who made the biggest jumps this year including:

  • [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag], UFC heavyweight
  • [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag], UFC light heavyweight
  • [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag], UFC light heavyweight
  • [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag], Bellator light heavyweight
  • [autotag]Andre Muniz[/autotag], UFC middleweight
  • [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag], UFC welterweight
  • [autotag]Yaroslav Amosov[/autotag], Bellator welterweight
  • [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag], UFC lightweight
  • [autotag]AJ McKee[/autotag], Bellator featherweight
  • Julianna Peña, UFC women’s bantamweight
  • Amanda Lemos, UFC women’s strawweight

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Bellator 236 breakdown: Can Derek Campos pull upset, end A.J. McKee’s unbeaten run?

How will the first featherweight grand prix quarterfinal fight play out? MMA Junkie’s Dan Tom walks you through the possibilities.

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MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the Bellator’s top bouts. Today, we look at the co-main event for Bellator 236.

Bellator 236 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.

A.J. McKee (15-0 MMA, 15-0 BMMA)

Staple info:

  • Height: 5’10” Age: 24 Weight: 145 lbs. Reach: 73.5″
  • Last fight: KO win over Georgi Karakhanyan (Sept. 28, 2019)
  • Camp: Team Body Shop (California)
  • Stance/striking style: Southpaw/kickboxing
  • Risk management: Good

Supplemental info:

+ Wrestling base
+ 6 KO victories
+ 4 submission wins
+ 5 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Consistent pace and pressure
+ Dynamic striking ability
^ Good shot selection
+ Strong inside the clinch
+ Good wrestling ability
^ Defensively and offensively
+ Solid transitional grappler
+ Slick submission skills

Derek Campos (20-9 MMA, 9-7 BMMA)

Staple info:

  • Height: 5’9″ Age: 31 Weight: 145 lbs. Reach: 68.5″
  • Last fight: Decision win over Daniel Straus (Sept. 7, 2019)
  • Camp: Mohler MMA (Texas)
  • Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
  • Risk management: Fair

Supplemental info:

+ Regional MMA title
+ 6 KO victories
+ 5 submissions win
+ 4 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Aggressive pace and pressure
+ Heavy hooks and crosses
^ Puts together punches well
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Dirty boxing, knees, etc.
+ Solid wrestling ability
+ Serviceable transitional grappler
^ Good positional awareness

Point of interest: Slugging vs. styling

The co-main event for Bellator 236 features a fun installment of the featherweight grand prix, as a heavy-handed slugger takes on a stylish prospect on the rise.

A hard-hitting hombre, [autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag] is no stranger to the heat of a firefight. Although he’s shown the ability to work behind a guard and counter when pressed, Campos is a come-forward, blood and guts fighter in almost every sense of the word.

The native of Lubbock, Texas is more than happy to prove his medal in the pocket by exchanging hooks, but has quietly sharpened his brand of brawling as of late. Now, it is not uncommon to see Campos shift off of his power hand coming forward, as he will also shift to southpaw for safe distancing when finishing combinations.

Campos has had plenty of experience striking with southpaws (having mixed results), so I’m curious as to how he intends on dealing with [autotag]AJ McKee[/autotag].

A home-grown Bellator product and one of (if not the) top prospects in MMA today, McKee has been able to keep his record unblemished since making his professional debut with the promotion. Primarily operating out of a southpaw stance, McKee makes plenty of hay with his left hand – both coming forward and off the counter.

The 24-year-old talent is also not beyond working from both sides, as he seems to readily switch his stance should the situation call for it. And when feeling in stride, McKee will attach kicks or knees to his combinations, seemingly improvising around what he sees his opposition doing.

That said, Campos is the kind of fighter who commands respect for the duration of the entire fight time, which makes me wonder how McKee will approach this challenge.

Next point of interest: Grappling entanglements

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