Antonio McKee, father and coach to Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee, has never been short on confidence in his son’s abilities. Amid contract negotiations with Bellator and the ever-present threat of a move to the UFC, Antonio was dismissive of the UFC’s reigning featherweight champion, Australia’s Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski.
Antonio told The MMA Hour that Volkanovski doesn’t stand a chance. “Are you f*cking kidding me? He’d blow right through that guy. Are you watching their styles? What the f*ck? It wouldn’t even go two rounds.
Antonio McKee: AJ vs Volkanovski “like a f*cking truck running into a Volkswagen.”
He might finish him in the first round. What is he going to do? That guy is too f*cking small. We’re talking range, distance, timing, speed, strength. That’s like a f*cking truck running into a Volkswagen.” For Antonio McKee, he sees AJ’s rise to the top of combat sports as a matter of fate, not chance.
“I was proud of him, but we knew this was coming. This ain’t nothing new. This kid is something different. Regardless of whether I got respect or not, I live in America.
What’s different for a black male coming from low income poverty to being the best fighter or best wrestler or best at whatever he does and doing it independently? I’m used to that. He’s been brought up and trained to beat adversity.
That’s the way I lived my whole life. I grew up in the projects. We know that. So when I don’t understand your textbook writing to be successful, don’t get upset. But I did it the way I knew how to do it.
And so I was able to teach him a better way, and that’s what I think we need to focus on is, him being better than me, from the dressing to the fighting to how he conducts himself, to even his lifestyle, but having the same morals and integrity that I carry in the streets and everyday life. That’s important.”
McKee views the Bellator championship not as the end goal, but merely as “phase 1” of the younger McKee’s career. If Antonio is to be believed, McKee may well be the next mixed martial arts superstar.
“So I wasn’t really excited about [A.J. McKee winning the title]. I was like, ‘OK, Phase 1, now let’s keep moving. Phase 2, let’s keep moving. Phase 3. This has been planned. This kid wrote a check to himself when he was 9 years old for $1 million. … So this was kind of like prophecy. You can’t stop God.”
Whether a cross-promotional fight between the UFC and Bellator happens or not, AJ McKee is surely one of the most exciting fighters on the planet. Watch this space.
Do you think a McKee vs Volkanovski fight would be as one-sided as Antonio claims? Let us know in the comments.
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