There’s a common thread among Bellator’s elite squad of young talent: their affiliation to Team Bodyshop.

Super prospect Aaron Pico, for instance, credits the team led by MMA veteran Antonio McKee for the turnaround after his disappointing MMA debut. Antonio’s son, undefeated featherweight A.J. McKee, is only 23 and already looking at the biggest challenge of his career in a headliner against Pat Curran.

Former NCAA Division II wrestler Joey Davis (4-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) is off to a solid start to his pro MMA run, having most recently dominated Craig Plaskett en route to his fourth straight win. And Kevin Ferguson Jr. (3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA), known as “Baby Slice” in honor of his late father Kimbo Slice, has also expanded his winning streak with a Bellator 197 win over Devon Brock.

Looking at the results, it would appear training under the elder McKee is a good deal for up-and-coming talent. The problem, though? Getting to the part in which he actually trains you.

“This is how it is in our gym: If a guy wants to come train in our gym, we’ve got Joey, we’ve got A.J., we’ve got me, we’ve got Walel (Watson) now,” Ferguson Jr. told MMAjunkie Radio. “You’ve got guys where – you’ve got to go through all of us. And then you train with coach. You might not even make it to coach – obviously, you won’t. Nobody ever made it to him. It was either Joey, me, then they’re done.”

That means average time spent by newcomers there, “Baby Slice” says playfully, is about two or three days. That has made for a rather reduced circle of people – most of whom, he pointed out, were present in studio with MMAjunkie Radio on this day.

“Everyone else, they don’t come back,” Ferguson Jr. said. “They’re getting beat up every day to where they’re just like, ‘All right, I just can’t.”

As for what brought Ferguson Jr. there about a year-and-a-half ago, neither him nor Antonio can really tell. “Baby Slice” had no formal MMA training prior to joining the team, having done his first fight based on what he’d taught himself and what he picked up from his father, and didn’t know any gyms other than American Top Team.

His best guess, though?

“Faith,” Ferguson Jr. said.

Davis, in turn, has been training under uncle Antonio since he was a child, throughout his undefeated amateur wrestling run and then into his blooming MMA career. He’s also got a background in football, where he earned his “Ice Man” nickname from rap superstar and then-coach Snoop Dogg.

From all his athletic endeavors, though, Davis says he’s never encountered training quite like he has with McKee.

“Wrestling is probably one of the hardest sports in the world, as you can hear, but nobody on the planet – I’ve been with some of the best trainers on the Olympic Training Center, OTC, you can call it,” Davis said. “(I) trained with some of the best athletes in the world – the Olympic champion, Jordan Burroughs, who works extremely hard. And nobody could get me sick with it, like reeling on my knees as this man right here.”

Davis is now focused on getting his communications major and doesn’t know when he’ll be back in the cage – though early 2019 sounds good. Once he does, we can expect it to be under the same tutelage.

“I’m not saying this because I’ve been knowing them for so long,” Davis said. “It’s just, I really came to the MMA game because of this man right here. I wouldn’t train anywhere else. I’ve been to Blackzillians. I’ve been to a lot of MMA gyms, Urijah Faber’s gym.

“I’m not saying that they’re not good or they don’t have nothing good going for them. But I felt like, for me to be the best, and for what I need to do, this man right here is the best at it. That’s just – he’s sick with it. And it’s not even about running up the hills, or running, or doing what we’ve got to do. Maybe it’s just our team relationship.”

Or is it maybe that they’re put through such tough training sessions that, come fight time, things don’t seem all that bad?

“Oh, for sure,” McKee agreed. “When it’s time to fight, they be like, ‘I’m ready. I’m going to (expletive) this dude up.’”

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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