Back in November, PFL Chicago bantamweight Mitch McKee, who headlines the card this Saturday at the Wintrust Arena, knew he had his PFL debut booked.
It just wasn’t supposed to come in a main event with former Bellator champ and UFC contender Sergio Pettis.
“Then like a week later my manager called me while I was shopping at WalMart and just asked me if I wanted to fight Sergio Pettis, because I guess whoever I was supposed to fight pulled out,” McKee (10-1) told Cageside Press in a recent interview. “Right away I was like ‘yeah.'”
“Getting that opportunity right off the bat, I’m never going to say no to an opportunity like that.”
McKee’s entry into the PFL is something rarely seen in the days of Dana White’s Contender Series and the PFL Challenger Series (the latter of which has been, at least for now, on hiatus). No job interview, just a straight step up into the big leagues after McKee spent most of his career in LFA, claiming gold there.
It wasn’t just the PFL knocking at his door. There was interest from other promotions, the UFC included. The PFL, however, had the more appealing offer.
“Honestly, it’s things like this. They wanted to invest in me, they wanted to give me opportunities, they wanted to build me into an American star. And that’s what they’re looking to do, is moving forward over the next years, they want to build their base in America, build their stars in America,” explained McKee when asked about the decision to sign with the league. “And I think that’s really important to growing, because that’s where you main viewership is coming from. So yeah they just, from the get-go they said how much they wanted to build me and how much they wanted to invest in me and give me opportunities.”
McKee sees the promotion as backing up their words by giving them the opportunity against Pettis. “I’m gonna prove that they made the right choice.”
A two-time All-American NCAA Division I wrestler, McKee’s transition to MMA stemmed from a conversation with Bellator star Logan Storley. Primarily, Storley questioned why more Division I wrestlers didn’t fight. McKee immediately threw his name in the hat.
By his fifth or sixth fight, a main event for LFA, McKee found he’d become comfortable with his striking, in addition to his wrestling. “The whole entire 15 minutes was on the feet striking pretty much. Maybe like one minute was on the ground, and I won that unanimous decision. And that’s when I kind of realized, you kind of have to have a fight like that. Now you trust all the work you’ve been putting in, and then it helps you just grow even more from there. Because now you trust it, now you can keep building on that trust of your hands.”
Comfortable with striking or not, however, he’ll be breaking out the takedowns against the Duke Roufus-trained Pettis at some point. “It would be kind of a terrible game plan if I didn’t try to wrestle.”
“I think the more you wrestle, the more it opens up striking. The more you kind of, you get a couple takedowns, now you can start faking the takedown, coming over the top with strikes, stuff like that,” added McKee.
“The key is pressuring him, putting his back against the cage, and then going and getting my takedowns.”
Mitch McKee finds himself in an interesting position at PFL Chicago to say the least. The bantamweight title is vacant, and he’s fighting the number one contender despite being an unranked fighter making his promotional debut. Stranger things have happened than a title shot with just one win, however, and it would be hard to argue against him should he defeat Pettis.
“That’s why I’m going in there next week, I’m going in there looking for a finish next week. I think that will cement me as one half of the title contention talks,” stated McKee.
“I’m definitely going in there for a finish next week. I would think that, if you beat the number one contender, even if it’s your debut in the promotion, that that would get you a title fight. I’m going to try to advocate for that as much as I can.”
Should the title fight not come to pass, meanwhile, “I’m willing to fight anyone, anywhere. Anyone in the division, I’ll fight,” McKee added.
McKee also respects Pettis for doing the same. “That’s what I respect Sergio for, taking the match-up with me. Someone that’s making their debut, not ranked, he’s the number one contender, like you said he has everything to lose. It takes balls, especially nowadays when people are picking and choosing who they want to fight. I just want to fight the best people, so hopefully that’s for the title after this fight.”
Watch our full interview with PFL Chicago headliner Mitch McKee above. The event takes place on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL.
