Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Featherweights

10. A.J. McKee

It's shocking that McKee is so low on this list, though perhaps not surprising given how badly Bellator fighters are underrated. As I mentioned in a recent article, McKee may be the most naturally gifted MMA fighter I've ever seen, with Jon Jones in his prime being the only similar comparison. Throughout his career, McKee has matched and even exceeded the hype. McKee began his career a perfect 18-0 at featherweight, dazzling fans with his superlative, lightning-fast striking and submission skills. He easily dominated former Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran, needed all of 8 seconds to finish tough and skilled perennial contender Georgi Karakhanyan, submitted Derek Campos, recorded Sherdog's Submission of the Year for 2020 against former Bellator bantamweight champion and elite wrestler Darrion Caldwell, then shocked everyone when he faced Bellator's greatest champion, the legendary Patricio Freire, whom we will see later in the list. McKee scored with a sensational head kick and then pounced with an instant, tight guillotine that resembled a steel trap, winning the title in just under two minutes. A lot of people considered McKee one of the very best pound-for-pound talents in the entire sport, but in a rematch against Freire, McKee lost a close five-round decision, the first defeat of his already great career. As I noted in an article at the time, there are two ways to view this. One is that he didn't take the fight as seriously as he could have, and often looked sloppy looking for an opening for a spectacular knockout that never came. Another is that despite being off his game, McKee barely lost a decision to one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, who executed one of the most brilliant, well-disciplined game plans in championship fight history that night. A top 20 all-time legend in Freire had to walk a tightrope for 25 minutes to barely edge him out. McKee is just that disgustingly talented. Will McKee move up this list, given that he is only 27? Perhaps not, as he just made a successful debut at 155 pounds and mentioned how good he feels cutting less weight. Regardless, McKee will be one to watch, as he has a real chance to go down as the greatest fighter in the sport's history.

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