An announced bout between Antonio “Mandingo” McKee (25-4-2) and Shinya Aoki (27-5) will apparently not be happening for the upcoming Japan: Fight for Japan event on May 29.
HDNet announced broke the news Monday afternoon on Twitter (@andrewhdnet), while MMAjunkie.com confirmed with McKee that he would indeed not be fighting Aoki at the DREAM event because he was unable to secure a visa to fight in Japan.
DREAM announced McKee as Aoki’s official opponent on Monday in Japan (Sunday in North America), but that appears a bit premature. DREAM: Fight for Japan is scheduled to happen on May 29 at the Saitama Super Arena Hall in Saitama, Japan.
McKee’s last fight was on Jan. 1 against Jacob Volkmann in his UFC debut. “Mandingo” would lose a close split decision, ending a fifteen fight unbeaten streak, and would subsequently be cut by the promotion. He had been scheduled to defend the MFC lightweight title against Drew Fickett, but suffered an injury and was forced out of the fight. Since then McKee and the MFC have come to an agreement that he would vacate the title.
Update: MMAjunkie.com updated their article after speaking to DREAM representative Mike Kogan.
“There’s a travel agent in L.A. since this morning ready to get all the paperwork processed and have his visa processed by Thursday. He would have had plenty of time. So if it’s a visa issue, he can get it done. If it’s not, then his people need to come up with a better excuse.”