It comes as no surprise A.J. McKee and Derek Campos will square off this December, but now they have a specific date and location set.
In a Bellator featherweight grand prix quarterfinal matchup, McKee (15-0 MMA, 15-0 BMMA) and Campos (20-9 MMA, 9-7 BMMA) will throw down in promotion’s return to Hawaii.
A promotion official confirmed the news with MMA Junkie on Thursday following a report from KHON2 News.
The event, which is not yet numbered, is expected to take place Dec. 21 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. No other fights have been announced for the card at this time and broadcast details unknown.
At Bellator 228 last Saturday, McKee and Campos were made aware of the matchup during the promotion’s grand prix selections show. In the random draw, McKee selected the first overall pick. Still fresh from his eight-second knockout of Georgi Karakhanyan earlier in the night, McKee wanted to keep his momentum going – so he chose the earliest month available in the draw, December.
With the sixth overall pick, Campos had his choice between fighting McKee in December, Borics in January, or Caldwell in March. “The Stallion” called his shot and went with McKee.
In his opening-round bout, Campos defeated former featherweight champion Daniel Straus by a dominant three-round unanimous decision at Bellator 226 on Sept. 7.
Bellator Hawaii is currently headlined by champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) as she defends her belt against “The Ultimate Fighter” alumni Kate Jackson (11-3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).
