The Bellator 263 main event saw A.J. McKee club and sub Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire to win Bellator’s featherweight GP tournament, the featherweight belt, and a crisp $1M bonus.
The top of the Bellator 263 billing was the setting where the promotion’s featherweight Grand Prix finale took place, with undefeated A.J. McKee wobbling Patricio Freire with a head kick, dropping him with a boxing combination, and then technically submitting him with a standing guillotine. To the victor goes the spoils, and McKee has won Bellator’s featherweight title, the GP finale, and is also the recipient of a $1M win bonus.
A.J. is a home grown prospect for Bellator — his entire career has been with the promotion — and we’ve seen him blossom from an up and coming prospect and into a world champion. A.J. McKee just might be the very best featherweight on the planet. Tell me I’m wrong.
A little bit of feeling out went on to get things going. Both men were throwing out feelers and leg kicks, trying to gauge the other man. Then, McKee blasted Pitbull with a head kick that wobbled him. A.J. pounced with followup combination that dropped Pitbull, but then looked at the referee to stop the fight. When the ref didn’t stop the action, McKee proceeded to lock up a standing guillotine that put Patricio to sleep. Wow!
A.J. McKee def. Patricio Freire by submission (Guillotine) at 1:57 of round 1: Featherweight Title