A.J. McKee’s next fight might seem like a departure from his championship chase, but his eye is still firmly on the prize.
The 23-year-old featherweight meets Daniel Crawford at Bellator 212 this Friday at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and though the unheralded Crawford is a risky opponent to take on, McKee is treating this as seriously as his first 12 pro bouts.
He recently told MMA Fighting that he likes the sound of 13-0 and that as important as it is for him to get a shot at current champion Patricio Freire, a target McKee called out after scoring a first-round knockout of John Macapa in September, he isn’t waiting for “Pitbull” to pick up the phone.