A.J. McKee reveals that he’s turned down Bellator contract extension, wants $1 million per fight to stay with promotion

Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee has revealed the price that is needed for him to stay in the promotion.

‘Mercenary’ is coming off a victory over Patricio Pitbull last July. The victory saw him win Bellator featherweight gold, as well as the promotion’s 145-pound Grand Prix. He’s now set to rematch the former champion this Friday at Bellator 277.

Traditionally, when fighters win gold, they get a new contract with the promotion. However, that’s not the case for McKee. The Bellator featherweight champion has revealed that he’s on the same contract that he had as a challenger. Furthermore, he has no plans to renew his deal either.

A.J. McKee discussed his situation on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The 27-year-old revealed that unless he gets $1 million per fight (what he got for winning the Grand Prix), he won’t re-sign. He also noted that he only has three fights left on his current deal with Bellator.

Image Credit: Bellator MMA

“They did [try to re-sign me]. I had already fought previously for a million dollars. I feel I should never have to see anything under a million dollars again, especially with the achievements I’ve accomplished. Every time I step in that cage, there’s an ‘O’ on my record. For me to go backwards, anything under a million, I feel it’s just not reasonable. We were at like [$500K] but it’s not appetizing to me.”

A.J. McKee continued, “There’s been nothing re-signed so currently championship clause, three fights [remaining]. It doesn’t specify specifically [how long the contract lasts] so it’s normally about six months per fight, a year and a half [left]. A year and a half but I’ve got other things going on outside of that, all kinds of other stuff.” (h/t MMAFighting)

What do you think about A.J. McKee’s comments? Do you want to see him fight in Bellator or the UFC?