Antonio McKee Talks Missing Weight, Losing Title And Eyeing Retirement

By Mark Wayne | January 26, 2012

Antonio McKee missed weight by a large margin for his proposed MFC 32 lightweight title defense against Brian Cobb today and has been stripped of his title as a result. The polarizing 42-year-old spoke about the infraction with MMAInterviews' Spencer Lazara.

"It's my responsibility as a fighter to make weight," McKee stated. "I came in a little heavier than I expected, but I put on a little muscle and it was difficult for me to go down and get the last four pounds. I actually was 159.4 and, you know, just for health reasons I decided that I was done trying to make weight because I was having some internal cramps in my kidneys and it felt like my liver was pulsating. At 42-years-old, you dehydrate the body like that - I decided to take the safer route to be able to come back and fight again."

Considering his age and the fact that he's already peaked as a fighter, McKee revealed during the interview that he's already got his eye on the door, with plans to walk away from the sport for good in the near future.

"You know what? I've got one more fight and I think I'm about done," he said. "I'm an accomplished fighter. At 42-years-old, I've done a lot in this sport. I've done a lot in mentoring, wrestling. I've got accolades already; I've done so much and I'm just now starting to realize that there are other things that are more important. My body, it's not the same. So, being that I refuse to get on the scale and refuse to do these things that other fighters are doing - that's where we're at right now."

Reports of his dismissal from MFC following his bout with Cobb have yet to be officially confirmed, but it won't matter anyway if McKee plans on retiring.

Check out McKee's full conversation with MMAInterviews below: