Los Angeles, CA — If you weren’t aware that A.J. McKee was already lined up for a fight this Friday against Patricio Pitbull, you might have thought the featherweight champ was set to face off with brother Patricky Pitbull when watching the two interact at Monday’s Bellator 277 press conference in Los Angeles.
For a moment, it felt like Patricky was about to swoop in and steal the fight like it was lunch.
Their back-and-forth during Monday’s presser, with Patricky Pitbull seated in the gallery, came about because “[A.J. McKee], all the time talks [about a] fight against me. So I know, I know he wants it. He talks sh*t — not sh*t, but he talks about he wants to fight against me, on Twitter, Instagram, everything,” the 155lb champ told Cageside Press afterwards. “So I’m ready. I’m the champ. I’m ready all the time.”
Of course, there are other tough opponents in Bellator’s lightweight division, including Brent Primus and Islam Mamedov.
“Yes, we have a lot of tough guys in my [weight] class,” agreed Pitbull. “A.J McKee, he’s like a joke sometimes. He’s a tough fighter, but he needs to take on good fighters, tough fighters, and make a good fight. He don’t prove, not too much. Maybe, I think the last fight against my brother was luck. One kick. But let’s see what happens when he fights three, four, five rounds. He never fought [that long]. This week, that’ll happen.”
In McKee’s first meeting with Patricio Pitbull, McKee rocked the then-double champ before submitting him. It’s clear Patricky is expecting a different result from his brother at Bellator 277 this Friday — but if McKee wins again, he could be moving on to the second brother.
Watch our full interview with Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull above. Bellator 277, with brother Patricio Pitbull rematching A.J. McKee, takes place this Friday, April 15, 2022 at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA.
