Current Bellator MMA Featherweight champion, Patricio Pitbull, is set to defend his title at Bellator 286 on Oct. 1, 2022, in Long Beach, Calif., but it won’t be against A.J. McKee, who will also be competing on the card.
Pitbull will put his title on the line against Adam Borics, who is currently ranked No. 2 on the official rankings. Winner of four straight, Borics is coming off a huge win over Mads Burnell at Bellator 276 earlier this year. Pitbull, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision win over the aforementioned A.J. McKee, winning back his title from “The Mercenary” at Bellator 277.
Speaking of which, it was widely believed that a trilogy fight between McKee and Pitbull was on the horizon, but it seems Scott Coker and Co. had other plans because McKee will now make his Lightweight debut in the co-main event against Spike Carlyle, winner of five straight. The match up may come as a bit of a surprise seeing as how Carlyle is not ranked in the Top 10 at the moment and only has one win inside the Bellator cage.
Nevertheless, if McKee wants a shot at Patricky Pitbull’s Lightweight title, then he has to first get through a very tough Carlyle, who is also a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran. The line for the 155-pound title shot is growing by the minute, however, since both Usman Nurmagomedov and Tofiq Musayev made their case with impressive wins last month at Bellator 283.
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