AJ McKee has made it back to the win column.
The former Bellator Featherweight Champion and Grand Prix winner is one of the absolute best fighters outside of the UFC. Undefeated in his first 18 fights as a pro, McKee’s defeated the likes of Bellator GOAT Patricio Pitbull, Roberto de Souza and Clay Collard.
The last we saw of AJ McKee was in October where the PFL-signed ‘Mercenary’ suffered a split decision loss to the highly-touted Paul Hughes at lightweight.
McKee has since went back to the drawing board and ultimately decided to go back to the featherweight division for the first time since losing the title to Pitbull in their 2022 rematch.
McKee was matched up with a 11-1 protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s in his return at PFL Cape Town, the promotion’s inaugural event in Africa featuring champions Johnny Eblen and Dakota Ditcheva.
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Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty ImagesAJ McKee declares himself world’s best featherweight after defeating Akhmed Magomedov at PFL AfricaAkhmed Magomedov had the legendary, undefeated UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner for his fight against McKee.
Magomedov fought a decent first round, controlling McKee on the ground for the majority of it.
Both men exchanged strikes on the feet to close it out and McKee visibly hurt Magomedov with a kick to the body before the bell.
Rounds 2 and 3 would swing more in the favor of McKee as he got the better of the Dagestani in the grappling exchanges, scrambling his way to a clear-cut unanimous decision victory after three rounds.
“I’m the best 145 lber in the world,” McKee said following his win.
“So, who do y’all want me to fight next?”
McKee improves to 23-2 as a pro. His opponent Magomedov falls to 11-2, suffering his first loss in the PFL.
AJ McKee is one of the greatest Bellator fighters of all timeNow fighting under the PFL banner, it’s still hard to forget what McKee did in Bellator MMA.
McKee made his pro debut in Bellator back in 2015 and that’s where he’s grown up as not just a fighter but a champion as well.
McKee went all the way up to 18-0, winning the $1M Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix before suffering his first loss to Patricio Pitbull in 2022.
The former Bellator champion rebounded with five-straight victories at lightweight over the likes of RIZIN champion Roberto de Souza, Spike Carlyle, Sidney Outlaw, and Clay Collard.
On his initial run towards the title, McKee took out former champ Darrion Caldwell, Derek Campos, Georgi Karakhanyan and Pat Curran, making his resume stand out from the rest in Bellator history.
