This past Friday night at Bellator 277, we saw a rematch for the featherweight title. The former champion Patricio Pitbull (33-5) was looking to regain the title from AJ McKee (18-1) after losing the title to him last July.
When these two men first fought, the fight wasn’t competitive. McKee hurt Pitbull badly on the feet and submitted him with a standing guillotine in the first round. It was a shocking fight to watch considering the promotional greatness of Pitbull.
Nobody has had more wins in Bellator than Patricio Pitbull and nobody has defended a title more than him. Entering Bellator 277, Patricio Pitbull had a 5-0 record in rematches throughout his career in the promotion.
He intended to keep that perfect rematch record on Friday night and that is exactly what he did. Pitbull came right out calm and composed while McKee came out with an aggressive posture. While McKee was looking to the knockout shot, Pitbull was touching him up with leg kicks and racking up points.
While McKee had some moments in the later rounds, Pitbull had done enough in the early rounds to get ahead on the scorecards. When the final scores were read, all three judges awarded the fight and the Bellator featherweight title to Patricio Pitbull.
What’s next after Bellator 277?
Now that Pitbull has avenged the loss to McKee, it seems like there is a clear path to his next fight. It seems rather obvious that Bellator would book the trilogy fight with AJ McKee and Pitbull to settle who is truly the best at 145.
However, after the fight was over, McKee said that he was done with featherweight. For a while, McKee has said the weight cut was getting to be too much and he wasn’t loving the idea of staying at 145. He said he would love to fight Pitbull again, but only at 155.
That is not something that Pitbull seems interested in despite being the former lightweight champion. Pitbull said that if McKee wants the trilogy, it has to happen at 145 pounds. If McKee sticks to his guns, it appears that this series will conclude with each man having won one.
If McKee isn’t next, who would the Bellator champion face off against? Well, to me there’s a clear choice. That choice would clearly be Adam Borics (18-1). Borics has won four in a row and he’s the top contender after McKee. If McKee is done at 145, it’s time for Borics to get his title shot.