Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, News
It turns out that even for an 11-year MMA veteran like Antonio McKee, Octagon jitters are very real. If that surprises you to learn, just imagine how he feels.
It’s one thing for a young fighter with only a couple years as a pro to struggle with nerves in his UFC debut. That’s to be expected. But for the 40-year-old McKee, who has fought in various MMA organizations all over North America in the past decade, it was a bit of a shock.
“It was funny because I’ve never really been nervous for my other fights,” McKee told MMA Fighting. “I was really nervous, not about my opponent, but just the crowd, the people. I didn’t want people to be disappointed in my performance. I was surprised that I got that nervous, but the UFC is intimidating. I didn’t realize it was that intimidating actually being in there.”