Tag Archives: AJ McKee

Bellator, mixed martial arts, MMA, Rizin FF, Showtime

**NO. 10-RANKED BELLATOR LIGHTWEIGHT GADZHI RABADANOV WILL REPRESENT THE PROMOTION AT THE HISTORICAL BELLATOR MMA VS. RIZIN EVENT AGAINST JAPAN’S KOJI TAKEDA ON NEW YEAR’S EVE**

November 15, 2022 FNU47 Leave a comment

Los Angeles — BELLATOR MMA has announced that its fifth participant for the New Year’s Eve spectacle against RIZIN Fighting Federation opponents will be No. 10-ranked lightweight, Gadzhi Rabadanov (18-4-2), taking on 27-year-old Japanese standout Koji Takeda (15-3) in a compelling matchup between two competitors riding high on the strength of consecutive victories.

A first-of-its-kind blockbuster co-promotion, BELLATOR MMA vs. RIZIN takes place inside the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on Saturday, December 31, and can be seen in the United States on SHOWTIME at 8 p.m. ET/PT on New Year’s Eve.

Rabadanov versus Takeda will join a star-studded five-fight BELLATOR MMA vs. RIZIN main card, which is stacked from top to bottom with current and former champions competing in the four-sided ring under RIZIN’s unique rules. Headlining the event will be a dream matchup between RIZIN lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (14-1) against No. 3 BELLATOR pound-for-pound talent AJ “Mercenary” McKee (19-1), with BELLATOR and RIZIN featherweight champions Patricio Pitbull (34-5) and Kleber Koike (31-5-1) co-headlining the must-see event.

Former BELLATOR champions Juan “The Spaniard” Archuleta (26-4) and Kyoji Horiguchi (30-5) will round out the unparalleled main card, facing off with RIZIN’s Soo Chul Kim (18-6-1) and Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-6-2), respectively.

Gadzhi Rabadanov, 29, signed with BELLATOR in 2021 after capturing the Eagle FC lightweight title, and has made an immediate impact on the promotion’s remarkably deep lightweight division. He announced his arrival in thunderous fashion at BELLATOR 263 with an emphatic viral knockout of Daniel Carey, which he followed up with back-to-back dominant unanimous decision victories over Jay Jay Wilson and Bobby King in 2022. The product of the renowned Club Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s School in Dagestan and the prestigious American Kickboxing Academy, Rabadanov’s pedigree is world-class. On New Year’s Eve, Rabadanov will look to continue building upon his momentum with an impressive performance against Koji Takeda.

“It is a childhood dream come true to fight in Japan at the legendary Saitama Super Arena,” said Rabadanov. “I’m very excited and I know I have a tough opponent, who always leaves everything in the ring. Expect a masterpiece from me, it will be a memorable fight.”

A former DEEP lightweight champion, Japan’s Koji Takeda has been an active fighter since his 2017 professional debut. Takeda boasts a compelling case for inclusion on this historic fight card, winning seven of his last ten and three of his last four outings under the RIZIN and DEEP banners. Takeda is also familiar with BELLATOR foes; he has previously fought Spike Carlyle and submitted Zach Zane by armbar, both of whom fought recently for the Scott Coker-led promotion. Takeda will look to add a third straight win to his resume against the highly-touted Rabadanov in his hometown of Saitama, Japan, on December 31.

BELLATOR MMA VS. RIZIN MAIN CARD:

SHOWTIME

Saturday, December 31 — 8 PM ET/PT

Lightweight Non-Title Main Event: AJ McKee (19-1) vs. Roberto de Souza (14-1)

Featherweight Non-Title Main Event: Patricio Pitbull (34-5) vs. Kleber Koike (31-5-1)

Bantamweight Feature Bout: Juan Archuleta (26-4) vs. Soo Chul Kim (18-6-1)

Flyweight Feature Bout: Kyoji Horiguchi (30-5) vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-6-2)

Lightweight Feature Bout: Gadzhi Rabadanov (18-4-2) vs. Koji Takeda (15-3)

For more information on this and other upcoming BELLATOR MMA events, visit Bellator.com.

Updated schedule of BELLATOR events – click links for updated fight cards

Fri. Nov. 18 // BELLATOR 288: Nemkov vs. Anderson 2 / Pitbull vs. Nurmagomedov // Wintrust Arena // Chicago, Il.

Fri. Dec. 9 // BELLATOR 289: Stots vs. Sabatello // Mohegan Sun Arena // Uncasville, Conn.

Sat. Dec. 31 // BELLATOR MMA vs. RIZIN // Saitama Super Arena // Tokyo, Japan

Fri. Feb. 24 //BELLATOR: DUBLIN // 3Arena // Dublin, Ireland

Bellator, mixed martial arts, MMA

BELLATOR MMA 263: PITBULL VS. MCKEE VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

June 19, 2021 FNU47 Leave a comment

**FULL PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO HERE**

**LOS ANGELES – June 17, 2021** – BELLATOR MMA’s Featherweight and Lightweight World Champion **Patricio Pitbull** (32-4) and undefeated top-ranked challenger **AJ McKee** (17-0) previewed their must-watch Featherweight World Grand Prix Final and 145-pound title fight during a virtual press conference Wednesday. Both fighters’ head coaches, **Eric Albarracin** of Team Pitbull Brothers, and **Antonio McKee** of Team Bodyshop, also chimed in with a look at the final preparations both fight camps are taking as we approach the massive event.

*BELLATOR 263: Pitbull vs. McKee* will emanate from the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and will air live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Tickets for the event go on sale tomorrow, Friday, June 18 at BELLATOR.com and Ticketmaster.com.

Here is what the fighters and their coaches had to say Wednesday:

**Patricio Pitbull, BELLATOR Featherweight World Champion & BELLATOR Lightweight World Champion**

“I’m a little bit older and faster than the rest of my division and I’m going to use this in my favor. (22:47)

“Of all the opponents I’ve faced, AJ is the most dangerous, and I know that. With that being said, I know that I’m going to win this fight and prove his father wrong. (26:18)

“At the beginning of his career, he faced very low-level guys. He has a few wins over tough opponents, but he’s never fought anyone like me. He claims that he is ready for me, but he isn’t, and he’ll learn that very quickly in front of his home crowd.” (38:48)

**AJ McKee, No. 1 Ranked BELLATOR Featherweight & Featherweight World Grand Prix Finalist**

“It’s been a great journey and this is something I’ve dreamed of my entire career. Like I said, I’ve been calling Pitbull’s name since I first stepped into that cage and he’s ignored me, pretending like he doesn’t know who I am. At the end of the day, there is nowhere else for him to run and he has to look me in my eyes. I’m looking forward to it. Everyone says I haven’t been tested and I agree. But, when you do see me get tested, a whole different animal will come out. (23:22)

“After I beat Pitbull and become the face of BELLATOR, we can run it back for that second belt too. Becoming champ-champ is something that I said I was always going to do, and that I will do. I went through the trials and tribulations of not wanting to fight, to then having my passion for this come back and me seeing all my goals be within reach. It’s going to be fun, especially after the long break due to my knee surgery. I can’t wait to get in there again. The Mercenary does one thing: he signs the contract and then takes the person out. (24:22)

“I’ve been preparing for this fight for six years because Pitbull has been at the top for so long. Once again, I have a foot longer reach on him, so he has to come to me. He says he is training with gold medal wrestlers, but I will do the same thing to him that I did to Pat Curran and Darrion Caldwell. I’m comfortable off my back. Just because he’s Brazilian, that doesn’t mean anything in terms of Jiu jitsu. I have that evolved Jiu jitsu and that’s what I get people with when they don’t see it coming.” (31:45)

**Scott Coker, BELLATOR President**

“We’re excited to be back in California and we are excited to be back in the Forum, a place where we have had so many great fights. It’s going to be an amazing event. My staff is excited and the fighters are excited. When you think about live sports, it needs fans. We got a taste of it last week at the Mohegan Sun, which has been an amazing partner for us, but it’s time to travel and get back to what BELLATOR does best. That is putting on great fights touring from city-to-city, starting with this amazing fight on July 31. (4:10)

“This is the fight that everyone wanted to see. We have so many amazing athletes in this division that we went through the lottery system for matchups, which provided us with amazing fights. But at the beginning, I was wishing that the final would be McKee versus Pitbull. When we signed McKee, he had zero fights to his name. Now, look at where he is today. Back then, Pitbull was our champion and obviously still is today, so this fight is the “OG” vs. the new guard and we’ll have to see what happens.” (5:13)

**Eric Albarracin, Team Pitbull Brothers Head Coach**

“Patricio’s had a bullseye on his back since he became the champ in 2014, when he beat Pat Curran and this run has gone exactly as we planned. We were the matchmakers, we sent Darrion Caldwell to the other side of the bracket to take out some of the young bucks and he did. Then, AJ took him out and here we are. I think this is the perfect matchup for the finals. We have a young, up-and-coming, undefeated fighter and the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet, Patricio Pitbull. This is going to be the greatest fight in BELLATOR history. (7:20)

“Even at 17-0, AJ is still very young in the game. He’s very unpredictable. But, at the end of the day it’s Pitbull who is the pound-for-pound best on the planet, it’s Pitbull who is the double champ, it’s Pitbull who has the best coaches in the game and they don’t know how to prepare for that.” (8:18)

**Antonio McKee, Team Bodyshop Head Coach**

“I lived a different life, one where it wasn’t all good. I was dealing with a lot of stuff that a lot of African American men deal with. No mother and no father, growing up in the streets of Los Angeles. It was what it was, but I made the right decisions and never got caught for anything that I did that could have put me away for the rest of my life and found my drive and motivation through my son. The things that AJ would say as a kid, like ‘Daddy if you die, can I die with you?’ I didn’t care about living and I didn’t have a problem with killing either. And then one day AJ says ‘Dad, whatever you do and wherever you go, I want to come with you.’ I was ready to clock out, but then I realized that I needed to be here for him. He had nothing but me, so that gave me the drive and the strength to find a better way out.

“I made it this far, did my thing as a wrestler and was the best in the world. I did what I was doing, but I didn’t have the right mindset, so I had to check my mental and learn how to be a respectable human being. Once I did that, things started to shift for me and now here we are. I did things to keep AJ in private school, not to buy cars, music, and jewelry. I did it all to pay for his school tuition.” (14:36)

Bellator, mixed martial arts, MMA, Showtime

Featherweight World Champion Patricio Pitbull Meets AJ McKee in the BELLATOR Featherweight World Grand Prix Finals on Saturday, July 31 — Live on SHOWTIME

June 19, 2021 FNU47 Leave a comment

BELLATOR 263 TAKES PLACE AT THE FORUM IN LOS ANGELES ON SATURDAY, JULY 31 – LIVE ON SHOWTIME^®

TICKETS FOR THIS MASSIVE EVENT GO ON SALE TOMORROW AT BELLATOR.COM

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LOS ANGELES — And then there were two…

What began with 16 featherweight athletes vying for a one-million-dollar grand prize and the BELLATOR Featherweight World Championship has been narrowed to the greatest BELLATOR athlete in the history of the promotion Patricio Pitbull (32-4) and the company’s best-ever homegrown fighter in No. 1 ranked AJ McKee (17-0).

The culmination of the BELLATOR Featherweight World Grand Prix takes place Saturday, July 31 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and marks the company’s first domestic event hosted away from “The Fightsphere” since February 2020.

BELLATOR 263: Pitbull vs. McKee airs live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and tickets for the event go on sale this Friday, June 18 at BELLATOR.com and Ticketmaster.com with a pre-sale taking place on Thursday.

“This is without a doubt going to be the biggest BELLATOR fight of all time,” said BELLATOR President Scott Coker. “AJ McKee has been calling for a shot at Pitbull’s title since his very first professional victory inside our cage six years ago. Now he’s finally getting the opportunity to realize his dream of becoming a world champion against the winningest fighter in BELLATOR history. For Pitbull a win over McKee in this tournament final would be a statement piece to add to his long list of accolades and legacy as the best 145-pounder on the planet.”

One half of the vaunted Pitbull Brothers duo, Patricio has long been considered the crown jewel of BELLATOR MMA, where he sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings. Holding a remarkable record of 32-4 with wins over elite competition including the likes of Pat Curran, Juan Archuleta, Daniel Weichel (x2) and most recently a second triumph over Emmanuel Sanchez, the 33-year-old stands alone as the featherweight king. Additionally, he was able to capture the Lightweight World Championship in a 2019 contest opposite Michael Chandler, becoming only the second BELLATOR athlete to hold two titles simultaneously. With 23 finishes in 36 professional fights, Pitbull has shown time and time again that he possesses the well-rounded skillset required to reign over multiple weight classes.

With a perfect record of 17-0, AJ McKee has exceeded the lofty expectations placed on him since his professional debut at the ripe age of 20-years-old. With an even six knockouts and six submissions, the now-26-year-old McKee has shown a knack for securing finishes—and fast—with nine coming in the first round. “Mercenary” has earned dominant victories over every man who has opposed him including former champions Pat Curran, Georgi Karakhanyan, and Darrion Caldwell, who McKee submitted most-recently with a rare, modified neck crank that was later dubbed the “McKee-otine.” Finally, the Long Beach native will face the man he has called for since signing with BELLATOR, as he takes on Patricio Pitbull in the much-anticipated Featherweight World Grand Prix Final.

The preliminary portion of the event streams live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel, SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel, as well as Pluto TV and features former featherweight title challenger and No. 2 ranked Emmanuel Sanchez (20-5) versus Denmark’s No. 8 ranked Mads Burnell (15-3), a bantamweight tilt between No. 3 ranked Magomed “Tiger” Magomedov (18-1) and No. 4 Raufeon “Supa” Stots (16-1) and a lightweight affair pitting undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov (12-0) against Manny Muro (12-6).

BELLATOR 263: Pitbull vs. McKee Main Card:

Saturday, July 31 – Live on SHOWTIME

10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT

Featherweight World Title Main Event: C-Patricio Pitbull (32-4) vs. #1-AJ McKee (17-0)

Preliminary Card:

BELLATOR MMA YouTube Channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel | Pluto TV

7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT

Featherweight Bout: #2-Emmanuel Sanchez (20-5) vs. #8-Mads Burnell (15-3)

Bantamweight Bout: #3-Magomed Magomedov (18-1) vs. #4-Raufeon Stots (16-1)

Lightweight Bout: Usman Nurmagomedov (12-0) vs. Manny Muro (12-6)

*Card subject to change.

Please visit Bellator.com for additional information.

Bellator, mixed martial arts, MMA, Showtime

FIGHT NIGHT RESULTS & PHOTOS FOR BELLATOR MMA 255: PITBULL VS. SANCHEZ 2

April 3, 2021 FNU47 Leave a comment

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COMPLETE FIGHT NIGHT PHOTOS

BELLATOR MMA 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 Main Card:

C-Patricio Pitbull (32-4) defeated #2-Emmanuel Sanchez (20-5) via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 3:35 of round one

#6-Jason Jackson (14-4) defeated #3-Neiman Gracie (10-2) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

#6-Tyrell Fortune (10-1) defeated Jack May (11-8) via TKO (punches) at 3:16 of round one

Usman Nurmagomedov (12-0) defeated Mike Hamel (7-5) via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

5-Kana Watanabe (10-0-1) defeated #4-Alejandra Lara (9-4) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card:

#6-Magomed Magomedov (18-1) defeated Cee Jay Hamilton (15-8) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:22 of round two

Mandel Nallo (8-1) defeated Ricardo Seixas (9-3) via knockout (strikes) at 3:23 of round one

Khalid Murtazaliev (15-2) defeated Fabio Aguiar (17-2) via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Chris Gonzalez (6-0) defeated Roger Huerta (24-13-1) via submission (strikes) at 3:01 of round three

Jose Augusto (17-1) defeated Jonathan Wilson (9-3) via submission (head and arm choke) at 4:58 of round one

Roman Faraldo (5-0) defeated Trevor Gudde (2-2) via TKO 1:30 of round one

Jordan Newman (3-0) defeated Branko Busick (2-2) via TKO (strikes) at 2:30 of round two

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THE FINALS OF THE BELLATOR MMA FEATHERWEIGHT WORLD GRAND PRIX – CHAMPION PATRICIO “PITBULL” VS. #1-RANKED AJ MCKEE

Quotes:

Patricio “Pitbull:” “I am ready to fight AJ McKee right now, please just tell SHOWTIME, I will get in the cage and we can take care of this tomorrow.”

“I want to be the first man to defeat McKee, he has been opening his mouth about me for a very long time, this will be the biggest fight in BELLATOR history.”

AJ McKee: “Patricio Pitbull has been the man. Nothing against him. He’s got great accolades. I already said I’m going to be the champ-champ. For me, it’s the new era. He said my time is over. My time has just begun. We’ll see.

“It’s a fight the fans have wanted for the longest. On top of that, he’s underrated. He’s an outstanding champ. His accolades, his credentials, his record is phenomenal. But at the end of the day, nobody has a win over me. Nobody has a belt with my name on it and nobody is going to get a belt with my name on it.”

Please visit Bellator.com for additional information.

Bellator, mixed martial arts, MMA, Showtime

SHOWTIME® TO DELIVER A FLURRY OF BELLATOR MMA™ CONTENT ACROSS PLATFORMS IN ADVANCE OF LIVE BELLATOR DEBUT ON APRIL 2

March 19, 2021 FNU47 Leave a comment

Exclusive Fight Content Includes Past Events, Highlights, And In-Depth Analysis of Featherweight And Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix

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NEW YORK – MARCH 19, 2021 – BELLATOR MMAis launching on SHOWTIME on Friday, April 2 with BELLATOR MMA 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 followed by two consecutive Friday nights of live championship MMA fight action. In anticipation of the launch, SHOWTIME will air a collection of BELLATOR specials and fight replays across its distribution platforms to set the stage for the April 2 live event featuring the BELLATOR MMA Featherweight World Grand Prix Semifinal, as well as the beginning of the highly anticipated BELLATOR MMA Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix set to begin on Friday, April 9 and Friday, April 16.

Starting this week, both SHOWTIME subscribers and non-subscribers have access to an exclusive collection of fights that have paved the way for the compelling upcoming matchups in each of these premier mixed martial arts tournaments featuring Patricio “Pitbull”, Emmanuel Sanchez, AJ McKee, Vadim Nemkov, Ryan Bader and more.

In addition, SHOWTIME Sports will present a pair of highlight-driven specials hosted by Morning Kombat’s Brian Campbell and Luke Thomas to preview the Pitbull vs. Sanchez featherweight semifinal and the start of the eight-man Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix tournament. Titled ROAD TO BELLATOR MMA, bothspecial programs will consist of highlights, analysis, and fight predictions, as SHOWTIME Sports’ dynamic combat sports duo prepares viewers for the live debut of BELLATOR MMA on SHOWTIME.

ROAD TO BELLATOR MMA: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 will debut on Monday, March 22 while ROAD TO BELLATOR MMA: Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix will premiere one week later on Monday, March 29 on the SHOWTIME Sports and BELLATOR MMA YouTube channels. Both programs also will be available to subscribers on all SHOWTIME On Demand platforms, on SHOWTIME EXTREME, as well as to SHOWTIME distributors for their free-on-demand and online portals.

On Saturday, March 27, a replay of BELLATOR MMA 253: Caldwell vs. McKee will air on SHOWTIME at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The four-fight card, includingMcKee’s iconic “McKee-otine” finish over former BELLATOR Bantamweight World Champion Darrion Caldwell that propelled the young star into the Featherweight World Grand Prix Final, will also replay onSHOWTIME on Sunday, March 28 at 12 Midnight ET/PT, and again on Thursday, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

BELLATOR 253, along with several past events which featured the world-class fighters in the upcoming tournaments, will be scheduled on SHOWTIME EXTREME weeknights at 10 p.m. ET/PT and are now available on SHOWTIME On Demand platforms. Select events will be available for free to non-subscribers via SHOWTIME distributor platforms and on Pluto TV’s SHOWTIME Selects and BELLATOR MMA channels.

As part of the launch of BELLATOR MMA on SHOWTIME, the network is offering viewers who are new to the SHOWTIME streaming service a 30-day free trial, followed by a discounted monthly subscription fee of $4.99/month for the next six months. Viewers can sign up at SHO.com/BellatorMMA.

The following fight replays are scheduled for the weeks ahead as fans prepare for the launch of BELLATOR MMA on SHOWTIME:

· BELLATOR MMA 252: Pitbull vs. Carvalho – (Original air date 11/12/2020)

· BELLATOR MMA 251: Manhoef vs. Anderson – (Original air date 11/05/2020)

· BELLATOR MMA 245: Davis vs. Machida 2 – (Original air date 09/11/2020)

· BELLATOR MMA 244: Bader vs. Nemkov – (Original air date 08/21/2020)

· BELLATOR MMA 222: MacDonald vs. Gracie – (Original air date 06/14/2019)

· BELLATOR MMA 220: MacDonald vs. Fitch – (Original air date 04/27/2019)

· BELLATOR MMA 214: Fedor vs. Bader – (Original air date 01/26/2019)

· BELLATOR MMA 186: Bader vs. Vassell – (Original air date 11/03/2017)

· Plus, two individual bouts from BELLATOR MMA 209: – (Original air date 11/16/2018)

BELLATOR MMA: Davis vs Nemkov
BELLATOR MMA: Pitbull vs. Sanchez

For more information visit www.bellator.com or www.SHO.com, follow on Twitter @BellatorMMA and @ShowtimeSports, on Instagram @BellatorMMA and @ShoSports, or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/BellatorMMA.