McKee Jr. vs Souza

Who won McKee Jr. vs Souza?

AJ McKee Jr beat Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main event of Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN, on Saturday 31st December 2022 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner AJ McKee Jr.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

McKee Jr. vs Souza stats

AJ McKee Jr stepped into the octagon with a record of 19 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 7 by submission.

Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza made his way to the cage with a record of 14 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by knock out and 10 by submission.

AJ McKee Jr's Bellator record stood at 22-1-0, while Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza's came in at 0-2-0.

The stats suggested McKee Jr had a slight advantage in power over Souza, with a 32% knock out percentage over Souza's 29%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Souza had a massive advantage over McKee Jr, boasting a 71% submission rate over McKee Jr's 37%.

AJ McKee Jr was the younger man by 5 years, at 29 years old.

Souza had a height advantage of 1 inch over McKee Jr.

McKee Jr was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 5 more fights, and made his debut in 2015, 9 years and 5 months later than Souza, whose first professional fight was in . He had fought 21 more professional rounds, 48 to Souza's 27.

McKee Jr. vs Souza form

McKee Jr had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 opponent and going to the judges 4 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Derek Campos at Bellator 236 on 21st December 2019 by submission in the 3rd round at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Pat Curran at Bellator 221 on 11th May 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Allstate Arena, Rosemont.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Daniel Crawford at Bellator 212 on 14th December 2018 by submission in the 1st round at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu.

Before that, he was victorious against John Teixeira at Bellator 205 on 21st September 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Centurylink Arena, Boise.

He had won against Justin Lawrence at Bellator 197 on 13th April 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Family Arena, St. Charles.

Souza had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1opponent and going the distance 4 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had beaten Johnny Case at RIZIN 35 on 17th April 2022 by submission in the 1st round in their Rizin Lightweight championship fight at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Chofu, Japan.

Previous to that, he had defeated Yusuke Yachi at RIZIN 33 on 30th December 2021 by submission in the 2nd round in their Rizin Lightweight championship fight at Saitama Super Arena(さいたまスーパーアリーナ), Saitama.

Going into that contest, he was victorious against Tofiq Musayev at RIZIN 28 on 13th June 2021 by submission in the 1st round in their Rizin Lightweight championship fight at Tokyo Dome(東京ドーム), Bunkyo.

Before that, he had won against Kazuki Tokudome at RIZIN 27 on 21st March 2021 by submission in the 1st round at Nippongaishi Hall(日本ガイシホール), Nagoya.

He had beaten Yusuke Yachi at RIZIN 22 on 9th August 2020 by knockout in the 1st round at Pia Arena MM, Yokohama.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza had been fighting more than AJ McKee Jr.

Going to this contest, AJ McKee Jr had last fought 4 years, 8 months and 21 days ago, while Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza's last outing had been 2 years, 4 months and 25 days ago.

McKee Jr's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 4 months and 29 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 13 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

Souza's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 1 month and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 25 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 6 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on McKee Jr. vs Souza?

Sorry, we couldn’t find any historical odds for McKee Jr. vs Souza.