No Time for the Critics

As one of the brightest young prospects in mixed martial arts, A.J. McKee has already endured his share of criticism from fans and media over his flashy personality and brash attitude. Some have labeled him a cocky upstart who has not yet earned his stripes. Others believe he rode his father’s coattails into the sport.

McKee to this point has made them eat their words. The Team Bodyshop representative went 7-1 as an amateur and has won all six of his fights as a pro, finishing five of them. The 21-year-old has passed every test thrown his way.

“For the critics: kiss my ass,” McKee told Sherdog.com. “I don’t really pay them any attention. People sometimes just come at me for whatever reason, but at the end of the day, it’s my feet and hands that do the talking.”

Indeed they have, as McKee stopped his first five opponents in a little more than 15 minutes combined. He went the distance for the first time at Bellator 166 in December, when he largely cruised to a unanimous decision against Ray Wood. McKee admits it was not his best performance by any stretch of the imagination.

“Honestly, I had a lot going on before that fight, so I’m just happy that I came out with the win,” he said. “I was very flat. I didn’t perform well, and I wasn’t the normal A.J. out there. Ray is a tough guy, too, and I fought like [crap], but it was good to see that even on one of my worst days I was able to adapt to do what I needed to and got the win. My energy just wasn’t right.”

McKee gets the chance to return to form at Bellator 171 on Friday, when he opposes Brandon Phillips in a featherweight showcase at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas. “The Mercenary” has been champing at the bit to get back on center stage, as he jockeys for position behind Bellator MMA featherweight champion Daniel Straus. The twice-beaten Phillips trains out of an American Top Team affiliate on Oklahoma City.

“He’s a tough guy,” McKee said. “He’s a smaller fighter and he’ll have to try and get in on the inside of me, but my job is to keep him away and make him try to come to me. It should be fun to get things going again against this guy.”

McKee claims to have prepared himself for everything, even the possibility of fireworks before the actual fight.

“I heard he’s a big trash talker and he likes to get physical, too,” he said. “I’m not the guy to get physical with. My No. 1 thing is don’t hang up in my face and don’t touch me. If he decided to put a hand on me, I’m not going to lie, I’m probably going to get fined. If he does, there will be a fight before the fight. I’ll laugh in your face, but if you touch me, you’ll have a very big issue on your hands. My switch goes right to kill mode. I’ll joke around with you, but just don’T Cross that line.”

McKee will enter the cage as a heavy betting favorite, but he has become familiar with the burden of expectations. While he admits he would have preferred to see an opponent with more star power standing across from him, the Long Beach, California, has no intention of taking Phillips lightly.

“The bigger names were previously signed up to fight, but they kept running,” McKee said, a hint of ire in his voice. “A fight’s a fight. I’m just going to go in there and do what I do best, which is put on a great show. To the bigger names, they can run but they can’t hide. They signed the dotted line [before], but they didn’t show up. Come on, man, show up. I had a lung infection going into my last fight, but I signed that contract and I honored it. I showed up to fight. I fought like s---, but I still went out there and fought. These are televised fights, and Spike [TV] and Bellator [are] banking on my fighting, so I made sure I’m ready to always show up and fight.”

McKee aspires to follow in the historical footsteps of former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones but understands a loss to Phillips could wipe out those plans.

“Right now, I think I’m in the top five [at 145 pounds],” he said. “I’ll keep showing up, collecting my wins, kicking ass and taking names. Sooner or later, I’ll get to the top. My overall goal is to get that strap around my waist. I’m only 21, and Jon Jones was the youngest world champion ever [in the UFC] at 23. I got plenty of time to go out there and stay undefeated and beat his record.”

McKee -- the son of former International Fight League veteran Antonio McKee -- has personal goals beyond winning a championship.

“My goal is to become world champion, obviously,” he said, “but step one is to fight on the same card as my father. Both of us fighting on the same night ... [that is] something that has never been done before in MMA.”