HONOLULU – A.J. McKee’s submission win at Bellator 236 has made all kinds of headlines.
The undefeated McKee (16-0 MMA, 16-0 BMMA) submitted Derek Campos in the third round Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, as he grabbed a slick armbar from the bottom to advance to the semifinals of the Bellator featherweight grand prix.
After the event, Bellator president Scott Coker told reporters, including MMA Junkie, that the jiu-jitsu community had raved to him about McKee’s finish.
“I was talking to Renzo Gracie and Royce and all the jiu-jitsu community, and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, that was one of the sickest submissions I’ve ever seen,’” he said.
McKee came out strong early, as he threw a flying knee and used his grappling to try to secure a submission opportunity. The two engaged in numerous scrambles in a back-and-forth fight. In the second round, McKee dropped Campos and got clipped during a wild striking exchange, but it was largely another impressive showing from the undefeated featherweight.
Coker had nothing but praise for his rising, undefeated prospect after a fight that he thinks tested McKee.
“I think A.J. was in a little scrap, and I think he learned a lot tonight,” Coker said. “I think he probably had to dig a little deeper than maybe he thought he was going to have to. He’s scrappy, the opponent is scrappy, and he is just rough and tough, and he got caught, I think, once or twice in there. I think A.J. learned a lot, but I will say this: That submission at the end was unbelievable.
“When a fighter finds a way to win, that really tells a lot about their character because he said, ‘I’m not going to lose this fight, I’m going to go out and submit this guy.’ Or in his mind, ‘I’m going to knock him out, I’m going to submit him.’ He found a way to win, and sometimes that’s what it takes. It’s just that will to win, and he caught him.”
Scott Coker: Jiu-jitsu community called A.J. McKee's armbar one of the 'sickest submissions' ever