Newly-crowned Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee recently praised his father and coach Antonio McKee for his role in the unbeaten star’s camp.
But it’s another coaching name that continues to steal the spotlight. The MMA community has been lauding former UFC lightweight champion and retired superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov for his recent work as a coach. ‘Coach Khabib’ has gone 7-0 in the 2021 calendar year thus far.
A.J. McKee addressed this during an interview with MMA Junkie. ‘Mercenary’ asserted that Antonio McKee deserves the Coach of the Year honor more than Khabib does. A.
“I saw a post that talked about Khabib being Coach of the Year. F*** that! Antonio McKee’s Coach of the Year, period. Period. 22 years in the making. You have a fighter that’s undefeated step out of the sport. Nothing against him, and what he’s doing, what he’s done – Great things for him. (But) Coach of the Year is Antonio McKee. And I feel that that’s the respect and the recognition he deserves.”
A.J. McKee continued:
“He’s had many champs – From Emmanuel Newton, Tyron Woodley, Rampage (Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson), Chuck Liddell. Like, if you think of this man’s rap sheet of what he has done in the sport and what has been unsaid and spoken about that he has done, that’s Coach of the Year right there. Hands down; just my accolades alone, that’s Coach of the Year. So, hopefully, we get Antonio McKee a little bit of respect and glory for his coaching and his doings.
“That’s probably one thing that I would love to see happen for him, you know what I mean, outside of my shining light, my shining moments for him. I think that’s just well deserved, you know what I mean.”
Catch A.J. McKee’s full interview with MMA Junkie below:
A.J. McKee is aiming for Bellator ‘champ-champ’ status
This past weekend, A.J. McKee defeated Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire via first-round submission and captured the Brazilian’s featherweight title at Bellator 263.
With the victory, which came by way of a standing-guillotine choke, the 26-year-old extended his unbeaten professional record in MMA to 18-0.
Following his spectacular victory, McKee expressed his willingness to move up to lightweight to beat Freire for his Bellator lightweight title and attain ‘champ-champ’ status. McKee’s next opponent and comeback date are yet to be determined.
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