As a rebrand into MVP MMA is just months away, the PFL has been taking chances and reshaping its future following John Martin’s appointment as CEO last year. One of its star fighters, A.J. McKee, is about to take a chance of his own in a major opportunity.
McKee flies to Japan this week to compete in the main event of Super RIZIN 5 on Thursday, September 10. He will represent PFL and challenge undefeated RIZIN featherweight champion Razhabali Shaydullaev – with the winner also claiming the PFL featherweight championship (watch here).
McKee is not a complete stranger to Japan. The former Bellator featherweight champion competed in the country in a Bellator vs. RIZIN cross-promotional event that took place on New Year’s Eve 2022. That night, McKee memorably made a spectacular walkout for the main event in a $100,000 samurai suit before going on to defeat Roberto de Souza.
And now McKee is relishing the opportunity to experience the country one more time in a higher-stakes environment.
“That’s a piece of memorabilia I’ll be able to give my kids’ kids’ kids,” McKee said in an exclusive interview with Deadspin. “‘Your great-great-grandfather fought in that in Japan!’ You know what I mean? Like it’s ‘he walked out as a samurai,’ and then you look at both cultural backgrounds, and you’re able to see the similarities of the warriors and whatnot.”
McKee last fought a few months ago at PFL San Diego, scoring a unanimous decision win over Salamat Isbulaev. McKee practically dominated the whole fight and took little to no damage. The PFL gave McKee an offer: take this opportunity in RIZIN or wait until the end of the year to fight another PFL fighter for the PFL featherweight title on the PFL card.
McKee jumped on the opportunity with RIZIN for more than one reason. Not only was it about trying to stay active and not wait a while between fights, but it was also about the unique high-stakes nature of the contest.
Bellator fans may remember current UFC fighter Kyoji Horiguchi holding both the Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight championships simultaneously. But that came as a result of two separate fights with Darrion Caldwell – one at a RIZIN event for RIZIN’s title on New Year’s Eve 2018 and one at Bellator 222 for Bellator’s title in June 2019. This opportunity McKee holds feels more like something out of the world of boxing, when multiple sanctioning bodies’ championships in one weight class are on the line in a fight, or something out of a championship unification storyline in the world of professional wrestling.
That also means higher pressure, but it’s a pressure McKee welcomes.
“Not only one, but two world titles will be conquered in that one night,” McKee said. “Nowhere in the world has mixed martial arts done this at all to put two titles on the line.
“I’m putting everything I’ve built up over the years on the line for this one fight – for a young up-and-comer who’s undefeated, who’s hungry, who I don’t think has had any tough battles or fights yet. But this is going to be that battle, that fight. Do you want it? Are you capable of it? Do you have the skill set for it? So, for me, I’m always game to run the big risk, high reward. In the midst of the pressure is where I feel I am formed.”
McKee mentioned the opportunity also came with a quick turnaround time. Just two weeks after the win over Isbulaev, he was back in training camp and back in weight management mode – and that came after quite the indulgence in his small break.
“It was rough that first week,” he said. “Getting back into the gym was a little rough. I was about 185 pounds, eating Cheesecake Factory twice a day, and I was just being disgusting. I’ll probably do the same thing after this fight. It is what it is.
“You know, it takes a lot for me to make 145 pounds – a lot of dieting. A lot of just sacrificing the donuts that are in the kitchen, sitting in the cabinet right now, to the right portions of eating salads and broccoli all day-it’s-it’s a lot. So afterwards, I indulged to the fullest. I turn into like a little mini Paddy Pimblett, and I just eat straight up.”
McKee added that the feelings get worse when he looks at social media while cutting weight, admitting he has an entire Instagram page saved for trying new restaurants and recipes. He jokes the algorithm knows when he’s in a weight cut and decides that to be the perfect time to put food and drink videos in his feed.
“The closer I get to the fight, they know what to push,” McKee said. “So I’m just scrolling, looking at eating videos. I’m like, ‘Ugh…’
“And then the worst part about it is right when we hit the very end of the weight cut, they start showing me drinking videos. So I’m looking at crazy cold-pressed juices and just crazy drink combinations. I’m like, ‘You guys are trying to torture me. This isn’t right.’”
Shaydullaev is the 19-0 RIZIN featherweight champion and has built a strong reputation as a physical, damaging fighter. In fact, all 19 of his professional MMA victories have not gone to the scorecards (12 submissions and seven KO/TKOs), and six of his current seven RIZIN victories have come in under five minutes.
Shaydullaev has taken out a former Bellator champion before in Juan Archuleta, but one can argue McKee is a much different fighter – and perhaps the toughest test Shaydullaev has faced. McKee may be older by about six years, but he’s certainly the more seasoned and experienced fighter, as well as the one with the size advantage in this matchup.
Having sized up Shaydullaev in person, McKee respects the tools his RIZIN foe brings to the matchup – even if he is already noticing limitations and weaknesses.
“He doesn’t have as much head movement. He’s more of a straightforward-and-back fighter compared to my last opponent,” McKee said. “I think his wrestling and grappling is a little bit better. I shook his hand; he’s got really big hands, so now I see why people have struggled with him on the ground. He gets that wrist control, he grabs, and he holds on, and then he gives him something to pay for in between. That’s kind of his whole MO.
“But I don’t think anyone’s had enough wrestling base to kind of neutralize his wrestling and make him scramble and make him fight. That’s where I think this is going to be a fight where he’s going to have to fight.”
One unique twist McKee will be experiencing in this fight? The RIZIN ruleset. RIZIN fights are competed in a ring instead of a cage, and it resembles the ruleset longtime MMA fans may remember from the days of PRIDE Fighting Championships. This means certain things disallowed under the Unified Rules of MMA, including soccer kicks to the head of a grounded opponent, knees to a ground opponents, and stomps, are legal.
While the Unified Rules have these restrictions in place due to concerns over the long-term health and safety of fighters, McKee is excited for the chance to compete in a “beast mode” ruleset that presents new strategic openings and comes closer to a high-school-era street-fighting atmosphere.
“I love it! It makes me horny,” McKee chuckled. “I love Japan’s rule set. It’s way more barbaric…There’s a lot more damage that can be done. I’ve always wished that they implement those rules into Mixed Martial Arts.”
McKee is now 4-1 in the PFL since arriving in the promotion following its acquisition and the eventual closure of Bellator. Having had the unique opportunity to compete under the bright lights of MMA – he had competed in Bellator for his whole career before the acquisition – McKee felt a rough adjustment when starting with the PFL.
McKee, however, has been complimentary of the PFL and says they have honored contracts and maintained star treatment, as well as granting opportunities like the one he has in front of him. He looks forward to more opportunities with the PFL following this fight, even if it means having to work things out with two promotions’ championships if he wins.
And McKee said after this fight, there may be some unfinished business at lightweight. McKee moved up to 155 in late 2022, after losing the Bellator featherweight title, and he fell just short in a split decision loss to Paul Hughes in an October 2024 PFL lightweight title eliminator.
Not only does he desire a potential opportunity to avenge the loss to Hughes and win gold at lightweight, but perhaps find a way to win welterweight gold as well.
“I think people forget who the best and baddest 145-pounder in the world is, and his name’s AJ “The Mercenary” McKee,” he said. “So this was just me reminding everybody who I am.”
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