Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee claims he was just protecting his “family” after “disrespect” from Nate Diaz and his crew at the Paul vs Woodley 2 ceremonial weigh-in on Friday.
A major story came out of the weigh-ins for Saturday night’s Jake Paul versus Tyron Woodley rematch in Tampa, Fla. However, it had nothing to do with “The Problem Child” or “The Chosen One.” Nor did it include bad weight misses like what was seen at the UFC Vegas 45 weigh-ins. No, the biggest news from the event was a scuffle between factions repping undercard fighters Chris Avila and Anthony Taylor.
MMA veteran Avila will be making his professional boxing debut against Taylor, a man he actually fought and lost to last year at Bellator 238. Avila is a friend and teammate of UFC superstar Nate Diaz. While Taylor has Bellator’s 145-pound king as a teammate and supporter. Well, with the past history and a couple of crews that are always ready to throw down, the groups unsurprisingly clashed at the Friday event and things got physical before venue security could break it up.
AJ McKee talks ‘disrespect’ from Team Diaz at Paul vs Woodley 2 weigh-in scuffle
Following the fracas, MMA reporter The Schmo caught up with Taylor and McKee and got their thoughts about what had just taken place minutes earlier.
“Nate’s always looking for something to start. He couldn’t swallow what he could chew and my team was there, his team was there and he backed down like a little puppy,” Taylor said.
The top fighter on Bellator’s pound-for-pound list was still perturbed by the altercation during the interview. Calling the actions of Team Diaz disrespectful, and a gesture to his “family” that deserved a response.
“Disrespect is disrespect. That’s my take on it, you only get so many passes. They like to throw bottles, I like to throw hands. You know Nate and their whole little squad, they like to throw bottles. I’m trying to throw these though [raises fists],” McKee said.
“Obviously, I’m a dad and they’re my little brothers and family. so it’s a little personal at that point, you know what I mean?” he added. “I’ve been able to set my emotions aside this entire time but I feel like it’s beyond that. [Taylor’s] not touched in my presence. Period. That’s outta respect for me and anybody else. The level of disrespect has been dished out. It won’t go [unanswered].”
McKee (18-0) last fought in July at Bellator 263. On that night in Los Angeles, he made history in winning the promotion’s featherweight Grand Prix, and the division title, with a first-round submission win over promotional legend Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.
It is not impossible that a clash between McKee and Diaz could occur in the cage in the near future. “Mercenary” has been open about his interest in an eventual move up to lightweight. Diaz, a fighter who has competed for much of his career at 155-pounds, has only one fight left on his UFC contract and is planning to test his value on the open market once his deal is fulfilled.
Would you be interested in a McKee vs Diaz clash in Bellator?
Join the discussion on this topic…