Mitch McKee is diving into the deep end of the pool in his PFL debut when he battles Sergio Pettis in the PFL Chicago headliner this Saturday. On April 11th, McKee will take on a former Bellator MMA champion who has a sizable combative cache and a notable pugilistic pedigree.
When offering up his thoughts about his first fight in PFL transpiring in a main event whereby he could vault toward a bantamweight title shot with a win over Pettis, McKee said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, I signed with PFL obviously this Fall and then had a different opponent that they were asking me about. I said yes to that, but then they came back like a week or two later and said would you want to fight Sergio Pettis instead? His opponent, whoever, I don’t know who he was supposed to fight. So yeah, I pretty much right away said yes. So I’ve known about it for about five months now. Yeah, it’s been great.”
“I mean, it’s been nice to know about it for 5 months and be able to prepare for it for that long. Put together a good fight camp.”
While being squarely focused on the fight itself, but contemplating some of the upward mobility components that this fight could present to him thereafter, McKee stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah. I mean, that’s why I said yes because of the opportunity. I mean, I’m not going to turn down an opportunity like that. Obviously I talked to my coaches and we all feel like I’m ready for this type of opportunity. So yeah, I mean definitely get a win here this next weekend, we’re looking at title contention talks. So, very excited about that. I’m coming into this, like it’s my PFL debut. It’s a high risk, high reward type of scenario. I’m always going to bet on myself.”
Mitch McKee forgoes Contender Series offer for big opportunities in PFL
While much has been made of the magnitude of this PFL bout, there were actually concurrent contract negotiations of a certain persuasion that were taking place previously with the UFC, as McKee quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, so after my, what was it? September of last year, I got a knockout and pretty much right away then we were in talks with PFL and UFC. UFC kind of wanted me to wait and to do the Dana White Contender Series. So that and then PFL really just wanted to give me opportunities and build me. Exactly what they’ve done since then. Yeah, it was just seemed like they really; I wasn’t just going to be another fighter on the roster like in the UFC.”
“They really wanted to invest in me and and yeah, I mean, right after I signed with them, they already gave me this opportunity right away. So, they’re definitely looking to give me the most opportunities I can. So, I think it’s a perfect matchup.”
The plan was actually to make his debut in the Professional Fighters League a bit sooner, but things ultimately worked out far better for the unbeaten MMA combatant, as McKee said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, originally when we were talking about it in the Fall, it was maybe going to be Pittsburgh like co-main event or something. Then they switched it to Chicago main event which I love that even more cuz all my family and friends are from Minnesota. So, makes it easier for everyone to come watch and support me. Today just talking to my wife’s side of the family, they got a 12 passenger van they’re renting and bringing a bunch of people.”
“Yeah, I know there’s going to be a lot of people cheering me on in the arena. So yeah, I’m really excited for the opportunity, for the matchup, for; just to get get back in the cage. Yeah, excited for this time.”