In his first fight with the PFL, Rhys McKee made an incredible entrance in front of a native crowd, filled with live music, before going on to defeat Alex Lohore in the PFL Belfast co-main event.
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Lohore started things out with a focus on calf kicks, doing damage to McKee's leg. While McKee looked to fight back, Lohore continued to pressure, eventually scoring a pair of takedowns later in round one. McKee got up both times but couldn't find a way out of Lohore's grasp until the end of the round.
McKee worked his jab well early in round two, and he appeared to be getting the better of Lohore in terms of striking. Lohore placed McKee against the fence again, but McKee had an easier time defending and getting into a grip control battle with Lohore.
Then, McKee dropped Lohore with a right hand seconds into the final round. McKee followed Lohore to the ground and controlled the action there, at one point threatening a D'Arce choke. Lohore got back to his feet and tried to get his striking going, but it was too little and too late.
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McKee ended up sweeping the scorecards.
This marked McKee's PFL debut, his first fight since parting ways with the UFC. The BAMMA and Cage Warriors veteran went 1-5 in two combined stints with the UFC during the 2020s.
Lohore, a veteran of OKTAGON and Brave CF, also made his PFL debut tonight. He last fought in May, defeating Mansur Abdurzakov. He also fought in Karate Comat, losing a middleweight title fight to Ilyas Khamzin last month.
