McKee sets 35-year retirement deadline as PFL featherweight title hunt continues

A.J. McKee has placed a firm expiry date on his fighting career, telling MMA Fighting he intends to retire at 35 — approximately four years from now — as he prepares to headline PFL San Diego against undefeated prospect Salamat Isbulaev on Saturday.

The former Bellator featherweight champion, who returned to 145 pounds after a brief stint at lightweight, is 3-1 in PFL following a 21-1 run in Bellator. He beat Akhmed Magomedov in July 2025 and defeated Adam Borics by decision earlier this year, though neither bout carried the inaugural PFL featherweight belt — and Saturday’s main event against Isbulaev will not either.

“I’ve kind of put a time stamp on my career,” McKee said. “I’ve got another four years. I don’t want to be that guy that’s fighting at 40 years old because he needs to. Maybe if I wanted to, but I think at 35 I’m done. I want to go follow other dreams, other passions. I mean, if I’m making some abnormal amount of money, obviously… Money talks.”

McKee, who signed a new PFL deal in late 2025, frames the self-imposed deadline not as a wind-down but as a way to ensure he exits on his own terms. “I came in on the top and I want to leave on the top,” he said. “The best way to do that is put a time cap and finish it to the best of your ability.”

Life after fighting, McKee says, will still be built around speed and competition. He has set his sights on motorsport — motorcycles, Indy cars, or Baja racing among the options — and recently took his first laps in a shifter kart.

“I gotta have adrenaline in my life,” he said. “I got a bunch of souped up cars, but those are all drag cars. Maybe something with a little more circuit potential.” He laughed off his kart debut, noting he was overtaken by children in smaller machines before finding his rhythm: “Only spun out a few times. Did pretty good, though.”

For now, the focus remains on reclaiming championship gold. McKee’s move back to featherweight, he says, is a deliberate statement to the entire 145-pound division, and Saturday’s headliner against the unbeaten Isbulaev in his home state of California is where he intends to make it loudly.