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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.”

A.J. McKee (left) and Antonio at Bellator 228 open workouts. (Ken Hathaway-MMA Junkie)

The event on the rooftop of Viacom’s Hollywood headquarters was a great idea on paper, with the iconic Hollwood sign in the hills as a backdrop. In practice, it turned out to be a 90-degree September day with hot winds blowing. Most of the participating fighters put in just long enough of a show to give cameramen their clips before doing interviews in the shade and then moving on with their days.

Not so with the McKees. The duo took the full allotted time putting in a real workout on the mat. Afterwards, the elder McKee was in no rush to put his shirt back on, clearly wanting to show off a physique that most men half his age will never achieve on their best days.

The elder McKee has been there, done that, and stayed relevant and in shape through his Body Shop gym, which is perhaps why he’s finally at ease after a career in which he fought hard and well, but never quite got that elusive big break.

“Honestly there’s no pressure this time, and that’s kind of scary,” Antonio McKee said. “If I lose, I can go use that as an advantage in the corner with him and say, ‘Hey, I lost, and you’ve gotta bring home the bacon.’ If I win, then I still say the same thing: ‘Hey, son, I won. You better win; you can’t let this happen.’ So I feel like it’s working itself out. It is what it is.”

“I’m scared because I’m not angry for the first time in a fight. I’m not mad, I’m not pissed off, (no) animosity,” he continued. “I’m not going on adrenaline. Well no, I’m just calm. Everything is great, my son is 14-0, my gym is successful, my guy is undefeated. This is almost too easy.”

For his part, 24-year-old A.J. McKee openly admits he lacks his father’s calm. The McKees will corner one another for their respective fights, and A.J. admits he’s far more nervous about his dad’s fights than his own.

“I’m probably going to be nervous as hell,” A.J. McKee said. “I’m going to be (expletive) bricks for his fight. I get more nervous for my teammates’ fights than I do (for my own fights), so my father, it’s … I don’t know. It’s going to be scary. If he wins, I gotta win. If he loses, I gotta go hurt Georgi.”

And this is where father knows best. Antonio McKee the coach knows how to separate the emotions and get the best out of his fighters, whether it’s his son or anyone who competes for Team Body Shop. Antonio McKee the father can look back at his own career and impart the sort of advice that has helped his kid rack up a flawless 14-0 record.

“Take your emotions out, because when you’re emotional, you make dumb mistakes,” Antonio McKee said. “When I’m his coach, I’m not his dad. I’m able to remove that and be the coach, and I don’t give a (expletive) about what his opinions are. I’m his coach. You respect me, or you go somewhere else.

“When I’m his dad, I’m teaching you about life. I’m doing what’s best for you. I’ve been through the hardship. I’ve done it the wrong way. You have an opportunity to do something great and have a legacy in this sport. I went the wrong road. I pissed off the wrong people. I didn’t play the political games. Don’t do that. Just be quiet and be the best, and I’ll take care the rest.”

Maybe Antonio McKee made some mistakes, but he must be doing something right, because he’s come out the other side with the opportunity to create a moment with his son, which could go down in MMA lore.

“His bragging rights are my bragging rights,” A.J. McKee said. “Iron sharpens iron.”