AJ McKee became an undefeated world champion four years ago today.
The former Bellator champion and featherweight grand prix winner is among the best fighters to have never graced the UFC Octagon.
More and more Bellator stars have crossed over to the UFC following the PFL’s acquisition of the promotion in 2023, such as former two-division champion and current UFC featherweight contender Patricio Pitbull.
Not AJ McKee though—no, the 23-2 Bellator veteran stayed with the PFL, where the 30-year-old recently gave one of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s proteges their first loss in the promotion.
McKee became a millionaire at 26 when he slayed the Bellator ‘GOAT’ to win the championship.
AJ McKee put down Patricio Pitbull in finale of $1M Grand Prix
McKee won three fights in a row to advance to the finals of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Tournament against then champion Pitbull at Bellator 263 on July 31, 2021.
At the time, Pitbull had not lost a fight at featherweight in six years and had never been stopped within the distance in the weight class.
Early in their title fight, McKee knocked down Pitbull with strikes and submitted the champion with a guillotine one minute and 57 seconds into the opening round.
That’s $8.5K for every second McKee fought, as he not only won the Bellator featherweight championship but also the $1,000,000 grand prize that comes with winning the 16-man Grand Prix Tournament.
McKee improved to an impressive 18-0 with the victory.
Pitbull later avenged the loss in a rematch in 2022 where he won in a closely-contested unanimous decision, regaining his featherweight title.
Patricio Pitbull recently picked up his first UFC win at 38
It was a long road to the UFC for Bellator ‘GOAT’ Pitbull.
Pitbull finally arrived to the big show earlier this year, losing his debut to former interim champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314.
Despite some doubt he could hang with the best at 38 years old, Pitbull proved the haters wrong when he defeated perennial contender Dan Ige over three rounds at UFC 318 a few weeks ago.
Pitbull cited one of his biggest issues in his UFC crossover was returning to the three-round format. The Brazilian had long fought five rounds since he was a champion for so many years.
Pitbull is currently ranked #11 in the world at 145 lbs.