Bellator 228: Pitbull vs. Archuleta - Predictions and Picks

#3 AJ McKee vs. Georgi Karakhanyan

AJ McKee could be the dark horse to win the Featherweight Grand Prix

This fight is another entry in the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix, and it should be an interesting one as AJ McKee was highlighted as one of the Bellator announcers’ ‘dark horse’ picks to take the entire tournament. He’s definitely a fascinating prospect. The son of former UFC fighter Antonio McKee, ‘The Mercenary’ is currently 14-0, with all of his fights coming under the Bellator banner.

Interestingly, he’s almost been treated like a boxing prospect – starting with weaker opposition from his debut (when he was just 20 years old) leading up to him facing genuine contenders such as John Macapa, Justin Lawrence and most notably Pat Curran. And unlike his father, McKee appears to be a well-rounded fighter; unsurprisingly, he can wrestle well, but he’s also aggressive and hunts for finishes both standing and on the ground.

Karakhanyan is playing the grizzled veteran in this fight – he’s 34 and debuted way back in 2006 – but he should know exactly how McKee feels in the role of hot prospect. It doesn’t seem that long ago that the Russian was considered one of the youngsters to watch at 145lb, but unfortunately he’s never truly lived up to the early hype.

Sure, he’s picked up some big wins along the way – two victories over Bubba Jenkins and a famed submission of the highly-rated Lance Palmer back in 2013 – but mostly he’s lost to the better opposition he’s faced, although it’s notable that he rarely gets finished.

Basically this should come down to McKee’s elite credentials; if he’s as good as his previous performances have suggested, then he ought to win this one. McKee’s not short on confidence and he’d do well to avoid getting sloppy or overconfident, but to be fair nothing he’s shown previously suggests he’s that kind of fighter anyway.

Karakhanyan will have a chance if he’s super-aggressive with his grappling, but in the end I think McKee is the better – and more importantly, fresher and hungrier – fighter on the feet, and he should have enough grappling skill to avoid getting into big trouble until he wins a decision.

The Pick: McKee via unanimous decision