McKee: UFC Messed Up Signing Me

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When the UFC finally signed Antonio McKee, he believed the promotion had made a mistake.

“It felt like they done messed up and let the wrong brother in the UFC now,” McKee said during a recent “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “I’m coming to get the title.”

McKee has long been criticized for a conservative top-control style. However, in his most recent fight, he cut open Luciano Azevedo for a doctor’s stoppage and also submitted Rodrigo Ruiz in the bout before that.

“I’m just getting started,” McKee said. “See, the last three fights you seen, you all been getting what you all want. But I’m just getting started. I’m just getting warmed up right now. Once I start getting hot, boy, you all gonna have to deal with this.”

After a successful career built on outwrestling and outpointing opponents, McKee’s recent finishes and brash talk likely helped him secure a spot in the UFC. He had called out the promotion for not giving him a crack despite his impressive record.

“It feels so good to just be where I’m at right now at my age,” said the 40-year-old McKee. “It’s kind of the last of the last of the Mohicans.”

In his Octagon debut Saturday at UFC 125, McKee will fight Jacob Volkmann in a preliminary lightweight bout. With more than a decade of MMA under his belt, McKee wants to make the most of his long-awaited shot in the UFC.

“Definitely I want to finish the fight in a grand fashion,” McKee said. “I want to go out here and I want to try to knock Jacob Volkmann’s head off his damn shoulders.”

Volkmann has been outspoken in his view that he’s a better wrestler than McKee. On paper, he may be: Volkmann was a three-time All-American at the University of Minnesota. McKee doesn’t seem to care about wrestling credentials, though.

“He may be a better wrestler than Jason High or all these other guys that he’s [wrestled], that I’ve trained with, but he’s not a better wrestler for MMA,” McKee said. “I’m probably the best wrestler in MMA, that has converted from wrestling to MMA. It’s just the way it is. My style, Mo Lawal’s style, our styles are more geared for mixed martial arts because of the fast-twitch muscles versus a Mark Munoz, who was an NCAA champion, which if you pay attention to his style, his wrestling doesn’t work very well for MMA. He’s having to revamp the wheel here. But at the end of the day, I think my wrestling is way more exciting than everybody else’s.”

In addition to believing he’s the better MMA wrestler, McKee believes he’s the better fighter. In fact, he questions Volkmann’s motivation for getting into the cage compared to his own.

“I’m ready to go to war and I don’t think he’s ready to really deal with what I’ve been dealing with,” McKee said. “He’s a great guy. I’ve studied him. I’ve watched his tapes. I’ve looked at his lifestyle, his home, his family. He’s a chiropractor. I mean, I don’t even know why this guy fights. I fight to survive. I fight to eat. I fight to feed my kids. I don’t know why he fights. I think he fights for the glory of it, and I think you know what? You done pushed up on the wrong opponent this time, bro, because I’m coming to get it. This is my life, my future, my career.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 18:45) with McKee, who also discussed being a role model.