McKee is easily the best prospect in MMA right now

The UFC can’t compete with a prospect like McKee at 145. The next best thing they have is Bryce Mitchell at 26 years old and 14-0. But he’s no McKee

Arnold Allen is a better prospect than Mitchell in my opinion. Also the UFC had FW prospects like Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Brian Ortega and Zabit not that long ago, if youre speaking currently well...Besides Arnold Allen no FW prospects that are in their early or mid twenties stand out right now in the UFC. Thats at least partially due to the FW division having so many elite fighters, Caldwell is a legit win but I dont think he's top 10 status in the UFC and has hard fights with plenty of 10-20 ranked FWs too.

Ortega, Zombie, Kattar, Holloway, Zabit, Emmett, some solid guys....
 
It’s funny because I was just thinking that if McKee goes 18-0, wins this whole thing, and cashes thats $1m, this might be the first time a Coker homegrown has panned out 100%. This would be a new milestone. He never got the chance to finish with Woodley or Cormier or the other SF guys but even so those guys had 1 or 2 pro fights and had wrestling pedigrees before mma. Coker literally found McKee as a 19 year old ammy. He would’ve taken this kid from ammy to championship level fighter from scratch. Dana has never done that.

They don't do that in the UFC, they won't sign people who haven't made their pro-debut yet like Bellator do. They'd have to change their whole perspective of what it means to be a UFC fighter to make it work really. You don't give people making their pro-debuts opponents of UFC level.

The closest I can remember them trying in recent years (they did have a couple a decade or more ago with Mitrione and Sadollah) is Saki who signed 0-1, but even with trying to find him favourable style match ups it didn't work.
 
They don't do that in the UFC, they won't sign people who haven't made their pro-debut yet like Bellator do. They'd have to change their whole perspective of what it means to be a UFC fighter to make it work really. You don't give people making their pro-debuts opponents of UFC level.

The closest I can remember them trying in recent years (they did have a couple a decade or more ago with Mitrione and Sadollah) is Saki who signed 0-1, but even with trying to find him favourable style match ups it didn't work.
After Bellator signed Pico in 2014, Fertitta and Dana asked Bob Cook why he didn’t give them a shot to sign Pico and he told Dana it’s cause the UFC doesn’t have a developmental type contract the way Bellator does. So I’m assuming from that Dana was willing to do it if he knew about Pico beforehand. I just think they don’t waste their time looking at ammys. I think if they saw a can’t miss they would. UFC is just very impatient with prospects that’s their problem. Like Mads Burnell is a puzzler at 145 they released.

Wasn’t there a Russian HW wrestler back in the day they signed? Something like that? That never ended up fighting. The closest thing I can think of recently is Randy Costa who got a shot at 3-0. But nobody with no pro fights.
 
After Bellator signed Pico in 2014, Fertitta and Dana asked Bob Cook why he didn’t give them a shot to sign Pico and he told Dana it’s cause the UFC doesn’t have a developmental type contract the way Bellator does. So I’m assuming from that Dana was willing to do it if he knew about Pico beforehand. I just think they don’t waste their time looking at ammys. I think if they saw a can’t miss they would. UFC is just very impatient with prospects that’s their problem. Like Mads Burnell is a puzzler at 145 they released.

Wasn’t there a Russian HW wrestler back in the day they signed? Something like that? That never ended up fighting. The closest thing I can think of recently is Randy Costa who got a shot at 3-0. But nobody with no pro fights.

I wonder if they'd make an exception if someone like Jordan Burroughs decided he wanted to try MMA. I don't think they should put people straight into the UFC but I wouldn't be opposed to having people under developmental contracts and have them fight in LFA or CFFC for a few fights initially. I suspect they might be helping LFA out with Alex Pereira, personally.


Actually, just remembered they did do it once in recent years and the guy they did it with was CM Punk lol.
 
They don't do that in the UFC, they won't sign people who haven't made their pro-debut yet like Bellator do. They'd have to change their whole perspective of what it means to be a UFC fighter to make it work really. You don't give people making their pro-debuts opponents of UFC level.

The closest I can remember them trying in recent years (they did have a couple a decade or more ago with Mitrione and Sadollah) is Saki who signed 0-1, but even with trying to find him favourable style match ups it didn't work.

With 20% of the UFC being contender series regional chaff and them letting go of guys like Anderson and Formiga recently...."UFC Level" is laughable in some ways.

I agree the UFC can't usually sign the Joey Davis/Aaron Pico types when theyre 0-0 or 2-0 but I also love that Bellator invests in elite prospects, I just think they do a poor job with most other things unfortunately.
 
With 20% of the UFC being contender series regional chaff and them letting go of guys like Anderson and Formiga recently...."UFC Level" is laughable in some ways.

I agree the UFC can't usually sign the Joey Davis/Aaron Pico types when theyre 0-0 or 2-0 but I also love that Bellator invests in elite prospects, I just think they do a poor job with most other things unfortunately.

I don't have a problem with them letting go of Anderson, dude shouldn't be fighting anymore. Formiga I would have kept.

Like I said upthread, if it was me I'd sign them and put them in LFA initially on developmental deals and see how they do before graduating to the UFC. So if you take the Bellator 0-0 guys they signed that I can think of McKee would have graduated to the UFC you'd have Davis, Pico and Wilson probably about to graduate now, Brennan, Gozali etc developing and you'd have cut your losses with guys like Baby Slice and Khonry without ever have them appear on UFC TV and making the brand look bad.
 
I don't have a problem with them letting go of Anderson, dude shouldn't be fighting anymore. Formiga I would have kept.

Like I said upthread, if it was me I'd sign them and put them in LFA initially on developmental deals and see how they do before graduating to the UFC. So if you take the Bellator 0-0 guys they signed that I can think of McKee would have graduated to the UFC you'd have Davis, Pico and Wilson probably about to graduate now, Brennan, Gozali etc developing and you'd have cut your losses with guys like Baby Slice and Khonry without ever have them appear on UFC TV and making the brand look bad.

Hahaha, whoops....Corey Anderson.
 
He's going to take both belts from Pitbull.
 
He's going to take both belts from Pitbull.

Maybe, Pitbull presents a very different problem to Caldwell though. He's rapidly improving all the time, so he certainly has a chance, but Pitbull is a different animal to anyone else McKee would face in Bellator (and probably vice versa)
 
Maybe, Pitbull presents a very different problem to Caldwell though. He's rapidly improving all the time, so he certainly has a chance, but Pitbull is a different animal to anyone else McKee would face in Bellator (and probably vice versa)

I think Pitbull wins, but the length and youth of McKee are concerning along with his momentum. That said, McKees striking isnt anything special, he throws a lot of single shots, has wasted movement and Patricio almost 40 fights deep has never been knocked out.

Still, I think if Patricio had fought in the UFC, he'd have realized vs guys like Kattar, Holloway, Ortega, Zabit, Conor etc that he's probably a Bantamweight not a Featherweight. Ol Patricio has a lot of miles on him too. Its a pickem for sure.
 
I think Pitbull wins, but the length and youth of McKee are concerning along with his momentum. That said, McKees striking isnt anything special, he throws a lot of single shots, has wasted movement and Patricio almost 40 fights deep has never been knocked out.

Still, I think if Patricio had fought in the UFC, he'd have realized vs guys like Kattar, Holloway, Ortega, Zabit, Conor etc that he's probably a Bantamweight not a Featherweight. Ol Patricio has a lot of miles on him too. Its a pickem for sure.

Patricio Vs Yan or Cejudo would be absolutely great
 
Patricio Vs Yan or Cejudo would be absolutely great

God Id like Cejudo to come back and just take Bantamweight fights. Its the most stacked division and has so many interesting young prospects too.

Patricio vs a lot of UFC Bantamweights would be great for sure, id like to see how his power translates and his speed stacks up a division lower, worst case scenario hes Pedro Munoz 3.0?
 
God Id like Cejudo to come back and just take Bantamweight fights. Its the most stacked division and has so many interesting young prospects too.

Patricio vs a lot of UFC Bantamweights would be great for sure, id like to see how his power translates and his speed stacks up a division lower, worst case scenario hes Pedro Munoz 3.0?

He's more powerful than Pedro imo, I think I'd take him to knock out Frankie. Him at BW could be a Marlon Moraes with a gas tank, depending on how well he handled the cut.
 
Although I have heard Pitbull can make 135, I think that is a mistake. I mean the guy carried enough power at 155 to KO a massive LW like Chandler. Short of Conor, I dont remember anyone at 145 with as much power as Pitbull. I think 145 is the right division for him and would match up very well with anyone at 145 in the UFC. I cant say that would beat everyone in the UFC but he would be favored againat most. At 135 he would probably lose his gas tank and power.
 
With 20% of the UFC being contender series regional chaff and them letting go of guys like Anderson and Formiga recently...."UFC Level" is laughable in some ways.

I agree the UFC can't usually sign the Joey Davis/Aaron Pico types when theyre 0-0 or 2-0 but I also love that Bellator invests in elite prospects, I just think they do a poor job with most other things unfortunately.
A few years ago, "UFC level fighter" meant something, now its just a term thrown out there by UFC fanboys.

I don't have a problem with them letting go of Anderson, dude shouldn't be fighting anymore. Formiga I would have kept.

Like I said upthread, if it was me I'd sign them and put them in LFA initially on developmental deals and see how they do before graduating to the UFC. So if you take the Bellator 0-0 guys they signed that I can think of McKee would have graduated to the UFC you'd have Davis, Pico and Wilson probably about to graduate now, Brennan, Gozali etc developing and you'd have cut your losses with guys like Baby Slice and Khonry without ever have them appear on UFC TV and making the brand look bad.
I dont like the whole idea of fighters making their pro debut in a big MMA promotion but nkw that McKee has reached the finals Bellator would probably double down on the idea. I agree that UFC or Bellator should sign these prospects and loan them out to regional promotions until they prove themselves.
 
Pitbull is elite. AJ have his chance but i don't really see him going 18-0. Pitbull is very experienced against Southpaw, and have a good distance management. Explosive style won't work against Pitbull distance control and instant reset with the jab. Going to be a very hard challenge. Just to say how good is Pitbull, everyone is talking about him like if he had already beaten Sanchez. I really see AJ going 17-1. But everything can happen.
 
After Bellator signed Pico in 2014, Fertitta and Dana asked Bob Cook why he didn’t give them a shot to sign Pico and he told Dana it’s cause the UFC doesn’t have a developmental type contract the way Bellator does. So I’m assuming from that Dana was willing to do it if he knew about Pico beforehand. I just think they don’t waste their time looking at ammys. I think if they saw a can’t miss they would. UFC is just very impatient with prospects that’s their problem. Like Mads Burnell is a puzzler at 145 they released.

Wasn’t there a Russian HW wrestler back in the day they signed? Something like that? That never ended up fighting. The closest thing I can think of recently is Randy Costa who got a shot at 3-0. But nobody with no pro fights.
The UFC is the premier organization in the world, fighters shouldnt be making their pro debuts in the UFC. They should sign to the UFC once they have proven to be elite and be there to prove they are the best. Only the best of the best SHOULD be fighting in the UFC. We all know that this is not how things are done but that is the whole gist of the UFC should be.
They should be signing prospects to developmental contracts and loaning them out to regionals (LFA, CFFC, Titan, etc.) and once they prove themselves make their way to the UFC.
Bellator does a good job at signing great prospects but sometimes do a shitty job at building those fighters.
 
A few years ago, "UFC level fighter" meant something, now its just a term thrown out there by UFC fanboys.

I still use the term UFC Level, but just to clarify when I use it I mean someone who can be an established UFC fighter, not someone who signs, goes 0-4 and gets cut. So I wouldn't say Bevon Lewis for example is a UFC level fighter, despite him having 4 UFC fights.
 
I still use the term UFC Level, but just to clarify when I use it I mean someone who can be an established UFC fighter, not someone who signs, goes 0-4 and gets cut. So I wouldn't say Bevon Lewis for example is a UFC level fighter, despite him having 4 UFC fights.
UFC level to me is someone in the top 20 in the UFC, or yes someone who can be an established fighter even if it means being 5-5 or something, as long as you belong in that ranking you are a "UFC level".
Today you have Ike Villanueva, Parker Porter, Al Qaisi, Collier, etc. and 20% of the roster coming from DWCS so the term has kind of lost value for people who understand MMA.
 
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