Undefeated Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee and former two-division champion, Patricio "Pitbull" Freire will rematch in the main event of Bellator 277 on April 15 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
The OC Register's Brian Martin confirmed the booking in a report today, with journalist Ariel Helwani being the first to report the news of the matchup being in the works last week. The pair's initial meeting back at Bellator 263 last July ended with McKee finishing Pitbull in just under two minutes via submission due to a guillotine choke. The 26-year old Long Beach, California native told The OCR the following about his mindset going into the rematch against Pitbull.
“First time I’ve ever had to take out an opponent and do it twice, so it’ll be fun, you know?” McKee said. “Usually when I fight people, the intent is for them to not want to fight me again. So I’m looking to do that in the beginning round to round two for me. The first fight was just kind of going in there and knowing what I needed to do, you know? This fight, I think it’s more proving a point now. It’s more of a personal point with people saying, you know, the early finish. And so I want to make sure that there’s no question and no doubt left in his brain after this next fight that AJ McKee is the best 145er in the world.”
The Million Dollar Submission! --@AJMcKee101 stops @PatricioPitbull to become the Bellator Featherweight World Champion. WOW!
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) August 1, 2021
A historic moment at @TheForum. #Bellator263 pic.twitter.com/fg75zEKrta
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