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  • "A.J. McKee is that dude!" - Daniel Cormier, Jake Paul, Ariel Helwani, and others react to A.J. McKee's stunning win over Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire at Bellator 263

"A.J. McKee is that dude!" - Daniel Cormier, Jake Paul, Ariel Helwani, and others react to A.J. McKee's stunning win over Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire at Bellator 263

By Anwesha Nag
Modified Aug 01, 2021 05:58 GMT
MMA Twitter reacts to A.J. McKee's win over Patricio Freire [Image credits: @bellatormma and @ajmckee101 via Instagram]
MMA Twitter reacts to A.J. McKee's win over Patricio Freire [Image credits: @bellatormma and @ajmckee101 via Instagram]

For more than half a decade, A.J. McKee has been saying that one day he would be a Bellator champion.

He made it happen on Saturday, July 31, when he submitted Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire at Bellator 263 with a standing guillotine in the first round in front of his hometown crowd of Inglewood, California, at The Forum. The victory crowned A.J. McKee as the new Bellator featherweight champion and earned him a $1 million winning bonus.

A.J. McKee was showered with cheers and applause as he walked into the arena, while his opponent was met with boos.

The fight started slow as both fighters took a methodical approach. A high kick in the second minute of the bout sent Freire against the cage, and McKee followed it up with a punching combination. McKee celebrated, but it was premature as referee Mike Beltran did not stop the fight.

However, the contest did not last much longer as A.J. McKee got hold of his Brazilian opponent's neck and put on a guillotine choke. 'Pitbull' didn't tap but seemed to be out on his feet. Mike Beltran stepped in this time to give McKee the technical submission.

A.J. McKee entered the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix on September 28 at Bellator 228 against Georgi Karakhanyan. He took just 8 seconds to knock out his opponent and advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, A.J. McKee defeated Derek Campos at Bellator 236 via armbar submission and then Darrion Caldwell in the semifinals at Bellator 253 via another first-round neck crank submission.

With the 1:57 mark stoppage of Patricio Freire, A.J. McKee extended his unbeaten streak as a professional fighter to 18, all of which have come under the banner of Bellator.

MMA pros react to A.J. McKee becoming the new Bellator featherweight champion

The big names from the world of mixed martial arts were quick to take to Twitter to react to A.J. McKee's stellar win over Patricio Freire.

Jake Paul claimed that A.J. McKee would "kill" Conor McGregor at featherweight while Bellator president Scott Coker sent out emojis in reaction to the win. Here are all the best tweets that celebrated A.J. McKee's championship:

Scott Coker said in the post-event press conference that A.J. McKee is likely to move up to lightweight after this. There is a possibility he will defend his belt in a rematch with 'Pitbull'.

Coker also said that he is open to a matchup with any UFC fighter willing to put it on the line but is aware that it is not how their rival promotion does business.

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Edited by Avinash Tewari
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