A.J. McKee doesn’t think Bellator dual champion Patricio Freire will see his way to the final of the promotion’s current featherweight grand prix.
The unbeaten featherweight contender sees upsets going down on the opposite side of the tournament bracket. “Pitbull,” who holds both the Bellator lightweight and featherweight titles, was supposed to fight Pedro Carvalho earlier this month at Bellator 241 in a quarterfinal bout, but the fight was postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the U.S.
Also on that same card, Daniel Weichel and Emmanuel Sanchez composed the second quarterfinal bout left in the tournament. The winner of the bout would be matched up against the winner of Freire-Carvalho.
Although McKee (16-0 MMA, 16-0 BMMA) wants to get his hands on the current champ-champ, the 24-year-old doesn’t think that will happen in the tournament.
“I’ve wanted to fight ‘Pitbull’ since my first fight in Bellator; I’ve been calling his name, (but) I actually don’t think it’s going to be him,” McKee told MMA Junkie. “I really don’t. So I dreamt that I fought Georgi Karakhanyan, and I didn’t know how the fight (would go). Obviously, now seeing how things played out, I know how the fight went. I’ve also dreamt myself fighting Emmanuel Sanchez. (I dreamt) I took Emmanuel Sanchez out. That fight was supposed to happen, I think like (my) seventh or eighth fight, but he pulled out. His coach told him, ‘Don’t do it.’ I mean, hey, at this point I don’t really care. It’s two, two more fights for me. I’m going 4-0, all finishes.”
The way McKee sees things playing out, underdog Sanchez will make it to the final.
“Sanchez, yeah,” McKee said. “I watched (his first fight vs. ‘Pitbull’), and their first fight was pretty close. It was back and forth. Sanchez puts out a high pace, a lot of volume, so that’s something a power puncher doesn’t like, you know? Power punchers like to get in and get out.”
McKee is currently scheduled to fight June 6 at Bellator 244 against former champion Darrion Caldwell in a semifinal. It’s still uncertain if the fight will be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Whenever it takes place, McKee sees himself getting past Caldwell and facing Sanchez in the final. And despite thinking Freire will get knocked out of the tournament, McKee believes the two will eventually meet.
“I honestly would like to completely have ran through the entire division,” McKee said. “So I would like to fight Sanchez, get him out the way. Get ‘Pitbull’ out the way. He still has that 155-pound title, so he can heal up a little bit, and then I’ll come for that right after.”
That’s right – McKee could become a two-division champion, as well, and he is confident he’ll eventually make a move to the lightweight division.
“I actually had plans to move up before the tournament,” McKee said. “So after I fought Pat Curran, I was going to get a title shot. (Former teammate Aaron Pico) was going to be in the tournament, and I was going to go up to 155, but things changed. So, yeah, here I am in the tournament.”
A.J. McKee doesn't see Patricio Freire advancing to Bellator featherweight grand prix final
