MMA
Bellator 263: A.J. McKee and Patricio Pitbull nearly come to blows at heated final press conference
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Well, that escalated quickly.
The final Bellator 263 press conference Thursday before Patricio "Pitbull" Freire and A.J. McKee enter the cage Saturday night turned ultra tense when both fighters began talking about each other's families and had to be separated before they nearly came to blows.
The moment occurred when Freire evoked McKee's father, who was on stage at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel, and McKee responded: "You remember when you said you're going to beat my ass in front of my father? I'm going to beat your ass in front of your wife and kids. How about that?
"We can be disrespectful. Now, the disrespect is out."
To that, "Pitbull" bit back: "And I'm going to beat you in front of your father and he'll do nothing about that."
Freire, who will attempt to defend his featherweight title against the undefeated McKee on Saturday night, then stood up and McKee followed before Bellator president Scott Coker and security personnel separated the two men.
"Pitbull" and McKee then hurled a "f—k you" and "f—k you, too" across the stage, respectively, before McKee found an opening to grab Freire's title off the dais.
"You already know," McKee said, grabbing the championship gold, "this is coming home with me, baby."
Again, tempers flared as "Pitbull" lunged at McKee and drinks were knocked off the dais. Again, they had to be separated.
Prior to tensions boiling over, McKee listed the keys to muzzling "Pitbull" in the cage.
"Just being faster, younger, stronger, just fighting smart, keeping my range and making him bring the fight," McKee said. "Everyone goes out there and rushes him, so let's see what he does."
He added: "There's definitely a lot on the line being undefeated. There's always an extra 0. It's not just the six (zeroes) that I'm fighting for, but that extra 0 on my record, live up to the legacy, my father's legacy."
McKee also vowed that the championship fight is not going into deep waters.
"Get him out of there," said McKee as to how he'll dethrone the champion. "It's not going championship rounds. He doesn't want to go championship rounds ... I know that. If it comes down to it, I know I could fight five fives like that."
