AJ McKee stuns 'Pitbull' at Bellator 263 to win title, $1 million

Patricio "Pitbull" Freire falls after being hit by AJ McKee during their featherweight title fight at Bellator 263. (Bellator MMA)

The results from Bellator 263 would suggest we have entered a new era in Bellator MMA.

AJ McKee won the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix final in spectacular fashion by stopping Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire, the organization’s most decorated fighter to date, in less than two minutes.

In addition to becoming the new 145-pound champion, McKee took home a one-million-dollar tournament-winning prize.

McKee rocked Freire with a head kick then knocked him down with follow-up punches before locking in a standing guillotine choke along the fence. The referee stepped in at 1:57 mark of the opening round and called a stop to the fight once Freire’s arms went limp.

McKee is now 18-0 in mixed martial arts with all of his pro wins under the Bellator banner, including victories over formers Bellator titleholders Pat Curran and Darrion Caldwell.

The 26-year-old knocked out Georgi Karakhanyan and submitted both Derek Campos and Caldwell en route to the Grand Prix final.

“We are just getting started. This is only the beginning,” McKee said after the win. “When (the tournament) first started and they were selecting the bracket, I wanted the third or fourth pick, but God told me that I am No. 1 so when I picked that first draw, I knew that I was No. 1 and now I am. Mentality is the key. You have to put the work in and my dad (former UFC and Bellator competitor Antonio McKee) always says, ‘Hard work beats talent.’”

Freire (32-5) had won his past seven fights dating back to 2016, including when he knocked out Michael Chandler to win the organization’s lightweight title to become a simultaneous two-weight champ in 2019. The loss to McKee was Freire’s first ever by submission and first at 145 pounds since 2015.

Mads Burnell beat Emmanuel Sanchez on the scorecards in the co-main event to improve to 3-0 in Bellator. The rising featherweight is 7-0 since being released by the UFC in 2018, winning a Cage Warriors title before signing with Bellator in 2020.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Usman Nurmagomedov, stayed undefeated in MMA with a TKO win over Manny Muro on the main card and in preliminary action Zabit Magomedsharipov’s younger brother, Khasan Magomedsharipov, was successful in his promotional debut, stopping Jonathan Quiroz with strikes in the second round.

Below are the full results from Bellator 263.

MAIN CARD
-- AJ McKee def. Patricio Pitbull by submission (guillotine)
-- Mads Burnell def. Emmanuel Sanchez by unanimous decision
-- Usman Nurmagomedov def. Manny Muro by TKO
-- Islam Mamedov def. Brent Primus by split decision
-- Goiti Yamauchi def. Chris Gonzalez by TKO

PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Vanessa Porto def. Ilara Joanne by split decision
-- Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Daniel Carey by knockout
-- Khasan Magomedsharipov def. Jonathan Quiroz by TKO
-- Joshua Jones def. Johnny Cisneros by TKO
-- Georgi Karakhanyan def. Kiefer Crosbie by submission (arm-triangle choke)
-- Brian Moore def. Jordan Winski by unanimous decision

When submitting content, please abide by our  submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.
We use cookies to improve your experience. Learn More or change your cookie preferences. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of cookies.
close