AJ McKee just became Bellator’s featherweight champion, and picked up $1 million while he was at it. Elite athletes don’t rest on their laurels, however, and McKee is already looking for his next challenge. Talk of a cross-promotional superfight with the UFC is probably still just conjecture at this point, so what’s next for Bellator’s first home-grown star, who still boasts an undefeated record?
Moving on from featherweight, of course. Speaking with MMAFighting, he said: “I’d like to move up.
“Nothing left for me at featherweight” in Bellator: What Next for AJ McKee?
Obviously within Bellator, there’s nothing left for me in the 145-pound division. I don’t know, maybe we get some superfights, make it worth my while to stay here at 145 pounds.
Not just having fun. The million dollars was a reason to stay at 145 pounds but after that, I’m undefeated, let’s not look back. Let’s keep moving forward, and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing.
We’ve got to sit down, go to Bellator, go to the drawing board and see what to do and how to take things from there.”
McKee has spent his career with Bellator, and has fought virtually everyone he can or should fight in the featherweight division. However, he is entertaining the idea of a rematch with Pitbull, who was the featherweight champion and still holds the lightweight belt.
“I’ve had 18 fights in that organization in that division. I mean, who’s next?
I don’t really care. I’ve already beat the best. I’d like to beat the best again. Maybe he needs some time to kick back, relax, he said he wants some time off. I don’t mind. We can give him that time off, and we’ll see where things go from there.
Definitely, run it back. For everybody who thought it may have been a fluke, I got lucky or something, we can do it again.
I know he wants to get back. He’s a great champ. He’s held those reins for a long time, so he’s gotta do some self-reflecting himself. We’ll see him soon.”
McKee is only at the beginning of a great career with Bellator, but he knows that the promotion is finite. Even if he becomes two-division champion, taking Pitbull’s throne, he’ll still be facing the reality of being the biggest fish in a relatively small pond.
Do you think AJ McKee will echo Michael Chandler and move to the UFC after he’s done with Bellator? Can he stand up against the UFC’s champions, people like Alexander Volkanovski and Charles Oliveira? Let us know in the comments.
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit Gamestingr for great videos, news, and gameplay!
