In a press release from Maximum Fighting Championship for their upcoming "MFC 26" show on September 10th, lightweight champion Antonio McKee was quoted with the following in regard to defending his belt against new challenger Luciano Azevedo:

“I’ve said before that I will fight differently but I was still cautious. Not anymore. I am going to destroy Azevedo … I will mess him up. If it goes to a decision, I will leave my gloves in the ring and walk away."

McKee is not exactly clear; but if he intends on retiring or taking any sort of drastic action if he's unable to finish Azevedo, he should consider how bold his statement really is.

At 24-3-2, McKee is known as an extremely dangerous and dominant fighter; perhaps one of the best outside the UFC's roster.  Unfortunately, as indicated by his quote, he may be more well known for his propensity to win fights by decision (18 of his 24) than his unquestionable talent.  McKee's best wins are over Derrick Noble, Toby Imada, and Marcus Aurelio; his three losses consist of Chris Brennan (in McKee's third pro fight), Hawaiian scrapper Ray "Bradda" Cooper, and former UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan.

The man he is promising to finish, Luciano Azevedo, is an experienced and multifaceted fighter with a Luta Livre background under Marcio Cromado of the Renovacao Fight Team in Brazil.  Basically, his style is the exact opposite of McKee's in that Azevedo quite willingly takes dangerous chances to finish fights in exciting fashion.  Though he's a submission grappler at heart, Azevedo has become an avid kickboxer and seamlessly strings punches, high kicks, and takedowns together into diverse combinations that are unleashed with blinding speed and ferocity.

The magnitude of McKee's pledge to stop Azevedo can be summarized with two key points on Azevedo:  first, he's the only fighter to both beat and finish featherweight crusher Jose Aldo; and second, out of twenty four career fights, the only fighter to ever stop Azevedo was legend Hayato "Mach" Sakurai in a Pride match where Azevedo chose to compete thirty pounds above his natural weight class.

Azevedo has a cast iron chin, vast knowledge of submissions and positioning, and isn't a bad wrestler himself.  He'll be making his long awaited MMA debut in the states, and the fact that he's being thrown in with MFC's best for his first fight supports the threat he represents to any 155'er on the block.  The MFC lightweight title bout between the two will be beyond compelling, especially now that McKee has added a little flare with his declaration.

Also on the card will be British fighter Tom "Kong" Watson versus former UFC'er and ATT standout Wilson Gouveia; along with two others we've seen in the Octagon, as "King" Solomon Hutcherson will take on David Heath.

The video of Azevedo's match with Jose Aldo is posted below.