AJ McKee survives a wild Spike Carlyle at Bellator 286

AJ McKee and Spike Carlyle clashed in the co-main event of Bellator 286.

Bellator 286’s co-main event saw  AJ McKee and Spike Carlyle engage in a fight that could only be described as frantic. Carlyle, who missed weight by 0.6 pounds, was looking for some justice by winning. Coming out to Hulk Hogan’s Real American, it seemed he was going to go full bore. McKee, who lost the featherweight championship to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in his last fight, wanted a good outing to show he was still a title contender.

The first round saw McKee and Carlyle going at each other at a frantic pace, with both men going for broke early and often. The fight got to the ground where McKee seemingly had control for a good portion of the round.

In the second, the two slowed down a bit, but Carlyle was still aggressive until Carlyle took a left from McKee. McKee then sunk in a decent choke but Carlyle was able to survive, and despite eating some good shots, McKee had good control. Carlyle did hit a big up-kick but McKee responded, and even landed a shot after the bell.

Carlyle, exhausted in the third round, started throwing again but McKee was able to avoid any big strikes and take down Carlyle, going four for four at that point. McKee was able to control the rest of the round, but Carlyle didn’t make it easy for McKee.

Mckee got the win by unanimous decision.

AJ McKee should be next in line for whichever champion he wants.

McKee should now be in line for a shot at a championship. Whether it’s Patrio the current featherweight champ as of this writing, his opponent Adam Borics, the lightweight champion Patricky Freire, Patrico’s brother, or his challenger Usman Nurmagomedov. McKee has more than earned the right to have his next fight be for a title, regardless if it’s at 155 or 145.