LOS ANGELES – The very nature of sports, where even the most elite athlete’s prime is a fleeting thing, makes memorable inter-generational moments few and far between.
It was an undeniably thrilling moment when Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants hit a home run last week at Fenway Park, where his Hall of Fame grandfather, Carl Yastrzemski, patrolled left field for the Boston Red Sox for 24 years. But that came 36 years after the elder Yastrzemski hung up his cleats.
If you narrow the gap to parent and child, you have to go back 29 years to find an event that’s stood the test of time. On Sept. 14, 1990, Ken Griffey Sr. and his Hall of Famer son, Ken Jr., hit back-to-back home runs for the Seattle Mariners in a game against the then-California Angels.
On Saturday night, Antonio and A.J. McKee of Long Beach, Calif., will look to make a little Griffey-like magic of their own. The duo will become the first father-son duo in major mixed martial arts history to compete on the same card, when both enter the cage at Bellator 228 at The Forum in nearby Inglewood.
The elder McKee (29-6-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), 49, returns from a five-year retirement to face William Sriyapai (13-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a 165-pound undercard bout. Then, on the main card, the younger McKee (14-0 MMA, 14-0 BMMA) will face Georgi Karakhanyan (28-9-1 MMA, 6-7 BMMA) in a featherweight grand prix opening bout.
And father and son believe if they can both score knockouts on the card, then they’ll create MMA’s equivalent of a Griffey moment.
“Man, that would be iconic,” A.J. McKee told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s Bellator 228 open workouts. “That’s legendary. That goes with his legacy of being eight years undefeated and doing what he does best: kicking ass, being mercenaries.”
McKee duo relishes chance to create 'iconic' Griffey-like father-son moment at Bellator 228
It was an undeniably thrilling moment when Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants hit a home run last week at Fenway Park, where his Hall of Fame grandfather, Carl Yastrzemski, patrolled left field for the Boston Red Sox for 24 years. But that came 36 years after the elder Yastrzemski hung up his cleats.
If you narrow the gap to parent and child, you have to go back 29 years to find an event that’s stood the test of time. On Sept. 14, 1990, Ken Griffey Sr. and his Hall of Famer son, Ken Jr., hit back-to-back home runs for the Seattle Mariners in a game against the then-California Angels.
On Saturday night, Antonio and A.J. McKee of Long Beach, Calif., will look to make a little Griffey-like magic of their own. The duo will become the first father-son duo in major mixed martial arts history to compete on the same card, when both enter the cage at Bellator 228 at The Forum in nearby Inglewood.
The elder McKee (29-6-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), 49, returns from a five-year retirement to face William Sriyapai (13-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a 165-pound undercard bout. Then, on the main card, the younger McKee (14-0 MMA, 14-0 BMMA) will face Georgi Karakhanyan (28-9-1 MMA, 6-7 BMMA) in a featherweight grand prix opening bout.
And father and son believe if they can both score knockouts on the card, then they’ll create MMA’s equivalent of a Griffey moment.
“Man, that would be iconic,” A.J. McKee told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s Bellator 228 open workouts. “That’s legendary. That goes with his legacy of being eight years undefeated and doing what he does best: kicking ass, being mercenaries.”
McKee duo relishes chance to create 'iconic' Griffey-like father-son moment at Bellator 228
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