5 UFC featherweights who have a good chance of beating Bellator champ A.J. McKee
After A.J. McKee destroyed Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire to win the Bellator featherweight title, it’s hard to deny that he is the real deal. A phenomenally well-rounded fighter, A.J. McKee is clearly one of the best 145lbers on the planet.
A.J. McKee is undoubtedly a great fighter, but could he really enter the UFC and dominate its featherweight division?
For now at least, it’s unlikely that we’ll find out, as McKee – despite his calls for inter-promotional fights – is tied to Bellator for a lengthy time.
But the truth is that the UFC’s featherweight division is an entirely different landscape to Bellator’s, which is a far smaller talent pool. And so this means that the UFC probably has a number of 145lbers who could defeat McKee right now.
So with this considered, here are five UFC featherweights who have a good chance of beating A.J. McKee.
#5 Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. A.J. McKee
While he hasn’t fought in the UFC since his November 2019 victory over Calvin Kattar, Russia’s Zabit Magomedsharipov remains one of the most dangerous featherweights on the promotion’s roster. And that almost certainly means he’d have a good shot at beating A.J. McKee if they were to fight.
For as well-rounded as McKee is, it’s hard to deny that Magomedsharipov may be slightly better than him in all areas.
‘The Mercenary’ strikes brilliantly, and holds six of his 18 career wins via knockout. But while Magomedsharipov might not be as heavy-handed as McKee, he does have as many knockouts on his ledger. And what’s more, he’s a masterful and creative striker with a brilliant grasp of range, giving him the ability to pick opponents apart.
Magomedsharipov is also fantastic on the ground. He’s averaged a total of five takedowns per fight in his UFC tenure, and has only ever been put on the ground twice in return – both in his UFC debut.
His scrambling ability is second-to-none, as we witnessed when he caught Brandon Davis in the ultra-rare Suloev stretch submission at UFC 228.
Magomedsharipov’s lone weakness appears to be his cardio, but that could well be because he pushes the pace so hard at the beginning of his fights.
If he can control that, he would probably be a nightmare fight of sorts for A.J. McKee and would be favored to win a clash between the two.