The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Rising star ready to ‘steal the show’ in CNY
McKee brings perfect record to Turning Stone for Bellator 182
VERONA » When AJ McKee was growing up, the last thing his fat her—veteran MM A fighter Antonio“Mandingo” McKee—wanted his son to do was follow in his footsteps.
It took one fight to change his mind.
The younger McKee’s first amateur fight came a week after his 18th birthday, a unanimous decision over Cesar Grijalva in which his father began to see his potential in the cage.
“I fought a dude that was 25 and he had already been fighting for a while, so when he saw that he was like ‘Wow. OK. This kid’s not going to quit either,’” said AJ McKee. “He was like ‘If you’re go- ing to do it, you gotta go all in.’ “From there on he was like ‘man, you got somepotential,’ sowe shot for the stars from there.”
Now, he’s one of the sport’s rising stars as a featherweight with an 8-0 professional record that he will put on the line at Turning Stone Resort and Casino on Aug.
FROMPAGE 1 25 when Bellator 182 comes to Central New York.
McKee is one of only two Bellator fighters to string together eight straight wins, joining Michael Page.
His father, meanwhile, has completely come around on his son’s career and now serves as his trainer out in California. McKee spent time inand out of the gymas a kid but didn’t start focusing on training for a career as a fighter until after that first fight. There’sno arguing with the success he has had early in his career, with the former Maximum Fighting Championship lightweight champion pushing him every step of the way.
“It sucks sometimes,” McKee said with a grin. “Just because he knows whether I’m pushing myself or whether I’m acting like I’mpushingmyself to take a break. So it’s like there’s really no slack time with him. He’s always on you whether you want him to be or not. He’s going to push you as hard as you can.”
McKee started his professional career with five straight finishes followed by two decisions before his most recent fightwithDominic Mazzotta at Bellator 178 on April 27. He earned his eighth straight victory with a highlight-reel-worthy finish, connecting with a head kick for a knockout just 75 seconds into the fight and celebrating with a backflip.
The knockout earned him a spot onSportsCenter’sTop 10 and with it, a larger fan base. McKee, however, said that highlight is just the first of many more to come.
His next chancewill come on Aug. 25 at Turning Stone against a fighterwho has yet to be named at Bellator 182. The event will feature Bellator welterweight cham- pion Andrey Koreshkov (192) taking on Chidi Njokuani (17-4, 1NC) in themain event with Brennan Ward (14-5) meeting Fernando Gonzalex (26-14) in a welterweight co-main bout.
McKee is ready to give Central New York MMA fans, who sawthe state’s 20year ban on the sport end last spring, a show when he steps into the cage.
“I’m a wrestler with great jujitsu but that’s not what I’m going out there to do,” he said. “I’m going out there to stand up, to put on a show and try to knock somebody’s head off their shoulders. That’s kind of what everybody wants to see.
“I’m going to steal the show. It’s goingtobeanother knockout and it’s going to be pure entertainment.”
Tickets for Bellator 182 are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Turning Stone BoxOffice, by calling 877.833.SHOW, or online at Ticketmaster.com.