Tag: Bellator 236

HONOLULU – [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] is not taking his Bellator featherweight grand prix quarterfinal matchup against [autotag]Derek Campos[/autotag] lightly, but the undefeated fighter said if he lives up his potential, it should be a whitewash.

The pair meet on Saturday at Bellator 236 in a second-round matchup in the 16-man tournament. Campos (20-9 MMA, 9-7 BMMA) is one of the more experienced opponents McKee (15-0 MMA, 15-0 BMMA) has faced to this point in his career, and in his mind, the most durable, too.

“I’d for sure say he’s probably the toughest opponent that I’ve had – literally speaking, the toughest,” McKee told MMA Junkie. “That man has taken a lot of damage. He’s going to stay in your face and take everything you throw at him, but I don’t think he’s ever been hit as hard as I hit.”

McKee opened his tournament run in spectacular fashion at Bellator 228 in September when he scored a devastating eight-second knockout of Georgi Karakhanyan. He predicted going into that fight that he’d set the promotional record for fastest knockout, and was just a few ticks shy of making it happen. Nevertheless, his point was made.

There’s a strong belief from McKee he can put on a brilliant encore against Campos. He said it really comes down to how his opponent chooses to approach the contest, because McKee has an endless amount of tools in his arsenal, many of which he claims to have not yet shown.

“I was thinking about pulling off some (Jorge) Masvidal (expletive), honestly,” McKee said. “Flying knee him in his face. If that doesn’t work – it just takes me getting in there and seeing. I think he’s going to have a problem with my kicks regardless. If I don’t Masvidal him I’m definitely going to finish him with some kicks. If he wants to get in my face and come at me and be a wild man, I haven’t really had anyone do that yet. There’s another side of me that snaps and the deeper the fight goes the more ferocious I get. If he wants to be the one to bring it out of me he’s just going to put worry into the rest of the guys in the division.

“I haven’t really thrown any elbows, or Jon Jones kicks to the knees. I’ve just been out there fighting, I haven’t really tried to hurt anyone yet. I’m not a malicious person like that and none of these guys get paid enough for me to end their careers like that yet. But for a million dollars, if you want to come at me crazy, the dog in me will come out.”

McKee said he feels his tools are sharper than ever going into Bellator 236, which takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie. The matchup with Campos will be his third fight since May, although that schedule has kept his focus in tact, he said he’s keen to have a bit of time off.

“After this fight I will get a little break,” McKee said. “The next one won’t be until March or April, so it will be the most time I get off since Hawaii last year. I’m going to hop on a plan, give up my phone, pick a return date then I’m out. (Expletive) everybody. I need a little break. I’ve been grinding. It’s nice to buy jewelry and go shopping and all this stuff, but sometimes you just need a break, you need a vacation to clear your head and that’s pretty much where I’m at right now.”

The upside of McKee being the first to fight in the second round is that, if he wins, he will get a sizable gap between fights going into the semifinals, compared to the others in the field.

McKee said that will only give him more time to get better at his craft. He said he feels he’s the frontrunner to win the entire thing, and while a matchup with current Bellator dual-champ Patricio Freire would seemingly be the biggest final available, McKee said he’s been having different visions.

“The interesting part about that is, when I dream about the end, I dream of choking out Emmanuel Sanchez,” McKee said. “We’ll see if he makes it. I know I got a lot these guys shaking in their boots. I don’t really care. I’m on a mission. I’m trying to better my life all around. Once I have the money and am content and don’t have to worry about anything, I’m literally going to be like Anderson Silva in there having fun and playing with people.”

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