A.J. McKee reveals the samurai warrior armor he wore during Bellator vs. RIZIN event cost six-figures

By Josh Evanoff - January 3, 2023

Bellator lightweight contender A.J. McKee had quite the night in Japan last Saturday.

Over the weekend, Bellator and RIZIN held their first co-promotional event. While the two promotions have had a talent-sharing program for years, Saturday was their first event featuring both brands. Names such as Patricio Pitbull and Kyoji Horiguchi fought on the card against RIZIN’s competitors.

However, it was ‘Mercenary’ who got the nod as the headliner. There, he faced RIZIN lightweight champion Roberto De Souza, who captured the title last in June 2021. Since then, the Brazilian had earned title defenses over Johnny Case and Yusuke Yachi.

All in all, it wound up being a great night for Bellator, as they swept RIZIN in the five-fight main card. The main event saw McKee have to tangle with the jiu-jitsu ace on the mat and come out victorious. The former featherweight champion wound up getting the nod by unanimous decision.

However, before the fight even occurred, A.J. McKee had arguably the walkout of the year. For the lightweight contest, he walked out in a samurai warrior outfit. As he revealed in an interview with The Underground‘s John Morgan, that costume cost him six figures.

AJ McKee

Image via @ajmckee101 on Instagram (photographer not listed)

“I did a little research man, one-hundred [thousand], large,” stated McKee in the interview. “Yeah, I spent a nice little penny on that bad boy. It’s some legendary s*it, that’s something I’d probably never sell… It’s going to be something in my man cave, my first ever fight in Japan, and I went and bought a bunch of armor? Come on now.”

He continued, “Like, who spends 100 bands on armor? Whatever I do dude, I just do it to the fullest. I saw the other [outfits], and I thought, ‘These aren’t it’… Somethings come with a cost, and scared money don’t make money.”

What do you make of this news? Did you watch the event? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!


Topics:

A.J. McKee Bellator MMA News RIZIN FF