It’s no surprise that Bellator MMA featherweight A.J. McKee appears to be on the fast track to stardom in his mixed martial arts career.
Growing up as the son of 37-fight veteran Antonio McKee tends to have that effect. Over the course of his evolution, the 20-year-old McKee recalls being choked unconscious at a local Denny’s by Emanuel Newton -- at his own request because he wanted to see what it felt like. He watched incredulously as a prime Quinton Jackson power bombed Newton, separating “The Hardcore Kid” from one of his teeth during a training dispute.