Friday night marks the next chapter of one of Ireland's hottest young talents--Rhys McKee.

McKee (5-0) is the current holder of the BAMMA Lonsdale lightweight championship, which he won last December back at BAMMA 27 in Dublin, Ireland.

His stunning knockout of Jai Herbert for the vacant title is only the tip of iceberg for what the young man went through that evening though. McKee, 21, walked into the cage just weeks departed from the death of his father, to whom McKee made a promise to win the title before his passing. 

At such a young age, McKee admitted the emotional baggage weighed heavily on his shoulders in an exclusive interview with FloCombat this weekend.

"It feels so different walking into the fight this time around--big time," McKee said. "That was like closure back then and I kind of needed that. Mentally, it challenged me to the highest degree, but I know now that I can get through absolutely anything in that cage and there's not going to be an opponent, a venue, or a situation that is ever going to phase me.

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"I feel like I'm mentally unbreakable now. Come Friday night you're going to see that I'm more determined than ever to show what I'm all about."

Having won the bout against Herbert with an incredible knockout in which he put together a flowing combination of strikes, McKee celebrated emotionally in the cage in front of a packed and raucous 3 Arena crowd in Dublin. 

It felt special for everyone in the building, and for many fighters, it would go do down as a moment of a lifetime. While happy to have experienced such a high, McKee was confident that on Friday night he'd achieve something similar in the SSE Arena Belfast.

"The goal now is top my greatest moment of all time and that's exactly what we're hoping to do [on Friday], it's going to be a scary good night," McKee said. "I've sold all my tickets in my local town so we're going to have at least 500 people coming up from my town alone. 

"Of course, I've got to go out there and get the win, but I'm confident I'll do that and that and get the atmosphere mad."

Having fought on Sept. 10 and Dec. 16, McKee will be fighting back-to-back-to-back camps. The young man admitted he was a little concerned about it for a while, but having put himself through it and got the camps under his belt he said there were definite benefits having fights so close together.

"It's something I was worried about," McKee said. "I've never fought all these fights together so close before, but it's actually been brilliant for me. I haven't had any time to get lazy or put much weight on. I literally had a few days off for Christmas and then it was straight back in.

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"I think it's improved me as a fighter in terms of my fitness so there are definitely some things I can take from being so active. I'm excited. I'm ready to go. I've had a good camp, and I just can't wait to get in there on Friday night."

With the support of the Belfast crowd behind him, on Friday night Mckee is hoping to put on a special performance against last-minute replacement challenger Tim Barnett. While others are already planning his route to the top, the Northern Irishman refuses to get ahead of himself and insists on just taking every fight as it comes. He has his eyes on one man and one man only--Barnett.

"My first goal is to defend my title on Friday in Belfast," McKee said with a laugh. "I'm purely focused on that and remaining undefeated. I've a lot of goals MMA-wise, but they are going to be ticked off one-by-one. 

"I see Friday night as just the start of it to be honest."

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