Antonio McKee, the father of Bellator Featherweight Champion A.J. McKee, has branded UFC President Dana White a “piece of shit.”
McKee’s comments came after his son dethroned Patricio Freire in the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Final this past weekend. In the main event of Bellator 263, “Mercenary” extended his unbeaten MMA record to 18-0 and, in doing so, secured one million dollars and the 145-pound gold.
Following his remarkable submission victory over “Pitbull,” who was a two-division champion heading into last Saturday’s headlining bout, many have pondered where A.J. McKee sits in comparison with the best featherweights in the UFC. With mouth-watering matchups with the likes of Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski a possibility, a move to MMA’s biggest promotion would certainly bring some blockbuster fights for the 26-year-old.
But the promotion’s president doesn’t appear to be a very popular figure in the McKee camp. While speaking during a post-fight media scrum following Bellator 263, the father and coach of the newly crowned champion revealed his thoughts on Dana White, and they weren’t positive.
“Well, I mean, you know, I don’t wanna jeopardize my son’s career. But I personally think he (Dana White) is a piece of shit. It is what it is. I mean, I’m a man, just, you know, I really have a hard time, you know. But my son is the best fighter in the world. Whether I like Dana or Dana likes me, it doesn’t matter to me. He’s different. He’s A.J. McKee. I’m just a coach. So, I won’t get involved in his relationships with Dana, if he decides to go to UFC, whatever his career is. But it’s only just for the benefit of my son,” said Antonio McKee. (h/t Sportskeeda)
Explaining why he holds such animosity for White, the 51-year-old, who has also 38 professional MMA fights under his belt, revealed an interaction his son, who was a child at the time, had with the UFC kingpin backstage at an expo event while Antonio was training Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
“Well, he should be thankful that he lit a fire under my son’s ass when he kicked him out of the nationals ‘cause he was in the back with Rampage and I was training Rampage at the time. Dana kicked him (A.J. McKee) out the back. And he asked him what his name was. He said, ‘I’m A.J. McKee’. And he said, ‘You’ll remember my name’. Aye, ain’t nothing like this type of victory. But still, we wanna stay humble, you know what I mean? We don’t wanna be cocky or arrogant about it. But, you know, it is what it is.”
Having carried out his promise to make his name known, it seems the chances of White and McKee working together are as close as they’ve ever been. Given the success he’s achieved at just 26 years of age, it seems inevitable that the unbeaten star will end up in the Octagon sooner or later. If Bellator President Scott Coker had his way, McKee would be mixing it up a lot sooner with UFC talent at a cross-promotion event.
Would you like to see A.J. McKee fighting in the UFC? If so, do you think he could become champion there?
