Exclusive: A.J. McKee discusses whether "smack talking" with Paul Hughes motivates him more for their fight: "I will spit facts"

A.J. McKee recently discussed whether the back-and-forth exchanges he has had with Paul Hughes have motivated him for their upcoming bout. The lightweight clash is scheduled to kick off the main card of PFL: Battle of the Giants, which takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct.19. It is already a highly touted clash as the winner is likely to receive a title shot against Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.

'The Mercenary' and 'Big News' had a back-and-forth exchange during a recent Bellator broadcast that saw them trading jibes at each other. McKee has had his fair share of back-and-forth exchanges with past opponents, most notably Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the former Bellator featherweight champion and Grand Prix winner shared his thoughts on his exchange with 'Big News' and noted that it doesn't bother him.

McKee mentioned that Hughes attempted to get under his skin with his banter, but it didn't effect him as he finds it enjoyable rather than take it too seriously. He said:

"It doesn't really make a difference. Honestly, I've had the fair share of smack talking...I find it kind of comical. Maybe that's what [Hughes] likes, he likes to try and get under people's skin. But, I'm not one to let people get under my skin or really clap back but I will spit facts at you when you come for me out of pocket. I think that's what kind of threw him off was I was kind of roasting him with nothing but facts." [3:55 - 4:25]

Check out the full exclusive interview with A.J. McKee below:

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A.J. McKee trolls Paul Hughes for his 'Young lion' remark

In addition to discussing the back-and-forth banter between himself and Paul Hughes ahead of their bout at PFL: Battle of the Giants, A.J. McKee trolled the Irishman for his, 'Young lion', remark and insinuated that he is much older.

During the aforementioned interview, McKee said:

"Isn't he 27 [years old]? So it's like, what are you talking about? [Hughes is] a couple years younger than me and then [he's] talking about [he's] a lion. Alright, cool. Lions are lazy you know what I mean? So I don't really know. I don't know what he's getting to there but it wasn't adding up, man." [4:47 - 5:02]

Check out the full exchange between A.J. McKee and Paul Hughes below: