A.J. McKee returns to the featherweight division as the PFL makes its debut in Africa.
The league announced Friday that former Bellator champion McKee (22-2) is set to fight Akhmed Magomedov (11-1) in a 145-pound bout on the PFL Champions Series portion of its Cape Town, South Africa, event that takes place July 19. Corey Anderson, Bellator’s last light heavyweight champion, has also been added to the card as he faces Denis Goltsov in a heavyweight bout.
See PFL’s announcement below.
McKee competes for the first time in 2025 and as a featherweight for the first time since 2022. The 30-year-old won his first title at Bellator 263 with a stunning first-round submission of Patricio Pitbull, but dropped the belt back to Pitbull and suffered his first-ever loss in their immediate rematch. McKee then moved up to lightweight, where he went 4-0 before losing a close split decision to Paul Hughes this past October.
Standing opposite McKee will be Russia’s Magomedov, who made a successful PFL debut with a submission of Nathan Kelly in January after going 1-1 under the Bellator banner.
Anderson (18-6, 1 NC) has not fought since March 2024. In his most recent outing, Anderson claimed a vacant Bellator light heavyweight title by defeating Karl Moore. His reign was brief as Bellator was purchased by and absorbed into PFL later that year.
His move to heavyweight is no surprise as he booked a fight in that division against longtime rival Vadim Nemkov for a PFL event in January, but Nemkov declined the bout claiming the league was unwilling to renegotiate his contract.
Goltsov (36-8) looks to add Anderson to his recent hit last after finally claiming a PFL tournament title in 2024, the end of a five-year chase for the Russian heavyweight.
PFL Africa is headlined by Johnny Eblen defending a middleweight title against Costello van Steenis, while 2024 flyweight champion Dakota Ditcheva fights Sumiko Inaba in the co-main event.
