Bellator President Scott Coker has placed the ball in Dana White’s court by suggesting a cross-promotion bout with newly crowned featherweight champ A.J. McKee.
McKee shot to stardom on Saturday by defeating five-time defending featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the main card of Bellator 263. The 26-year-old took less than two minutes to dispatch of “Pitbull” to claim the featherweight grand prix $1 million prize.
It almost seemed inevitable that McKee, who many have slated as a future star, would triumph. A.J. is now undefeated in 18 Bellator fights and looks like he has what it takes to eclipse “Pitbull’s” over four-year reign atop the featherweight division.
Scott Coker Places Ball In Dana White’s Court By Suggesting Cross-Promotion Fight
Given the star potential of McKee, it seems Coker has some grand plans for his new champion.
Speaking at the Bellator 263 post-fight press conference, Coker floated the idea of possibly making PitBull vs. McKee 2 at lightweight. And he also likes the sound of A.J. taking on some of the UFC’s best featherweights.
Despite noting that it probably won’t happen, Coker threw the gauntlet down at Dana White by saying that Bellator is open to a cross-promotion fight with McKee.
“Yeah, I mean I would love to see (McKee) fight against other people as well, as you guys would also, but it’s not going to happen because it’s not the UFC’s business model to do it. But you tell me this kid couldn’t go in there and fight anybody right now. Everybody knows that he can do it. So if they want to get it on, we’d do it in a second,” Coker said (h/t Adam Martin at BJPENN.COM).
Coker is yet to see one of his cross-promotional attempts garner even remote interest from White. And given the chequered history between the duo, it’s unlikely we’ll see McKee take on the likes of Alexander Volkanovski or Max Holloway.
Last year, after Coker claimed that Bellator has “the best 205-pound weight class on the planet,” White responded by saying it was the “f**king dumbest thing I have ever heard.”
What do you think? Would A.J. McKee fare well against the UFC’s best featherweights?
