Mckee set to face his conqueror
RHYS MCKEE and Tim Barnett shared an intense face-off in London ahead of their lightweight title bout at BAMMA 34 tonight.
Mckee fell ill shortly before their first meeting in Belfast and suffered a firstround TKO — his sole career loss — as the Liverpudlian upset the Bushmills fighter on home soil.
The Antrim ace is one of the fighters many Irish fans believe could get a call-up to the UFC Dublin card in May if he manages to claim the title, but Mckee is in no rush to go anywhere.
“I’d be happy to get on any UFC card, I wouldn’t think twice about it,” the Next Generation Northern Ireland fighter said.
“There is a chance that the UFC might still see me as a bit too young, or maybe they’ll want to see more of me before they make that decision, but who knows?
“At the moment, I can’t look past Friday night. Everything will reveal itself after I get in there with Tim. I’ve got to take care my side of the bargain first and if UFC want to come calling after that, so be it.
“If an offer doesn’t come now I really think it will come after I defend this title for the first time.”
A fully fit Mckee vows he will be a completely different animal this time around compared to his first bout with Barnett.
“You look at any fight I’ve had before I fought Tim and then look at my two fights since I fought Tim, I never fight the way I did that night; I never look the way I did that night,” he said.
“I hope he comes in thinking that I’m going to be exactly the way I was in the first fight. I know I’m going to be completely different.”