Armed with the featherweight belt, $1 million and his 117-second annihilation of Bellator’s greatest champion, A.J. McKee is back for more.

Now regarded as the promotion’s pound-for-pound king, McKee will make his first title defense in a rematch against Patricio Pitbull in the Bellator 277 main event on April 15 at the SAP Center in San Jose, Bellator officials confirmed Tuesday.

The co-main event is no slouch either, as 205-pound champion Vadim Nemkov takes on top contender Corey Anderson in the $1 million Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix final.

Bellator 277 tickets go on sale Friday at Ticketmaster.com and Bellator.com, with a special presale starting Thursday.

Trained by his father, Antonio, with Team Bodyshop, McKee admitted Tuesday he was looking forward to facing a different opponent. Even after his victory, the Long Beach resident teased moving up from 145 pounds to 155, where Pitbull was also the champion before vacating the title in October so his brother, Patricky, could win it a month later.

But if Pitbull couldn’t make it out of the first round of their first fight, McKee surmises, after never having been finished in 36 professional fights spanning 17 years, he’s more than willing to entertain doing it again.

“First time I’ve ever had to take out an opponent and do it twice, so it’ll be fun, you know?” McKee said in an exclusive interview. “Usually when I fight people, the intent is for them to not want to fight me again. So I’m looking to do that in the beginning round to round two for me.”

Long considered one of the sport’s rising stars, McKee (18-0) stomped a sizable footprint on the MMA landscape with his dynamic victory over Pitbull (32-5) at Bellator 263 in the $1 million Bellator World Featherweight Grand Prix finale on July 31 at The Forum in Inglewood.

A McKee left head kick staggered Pitbull, who went down following a stiff left uppercut. McKee prematurely raised his arms in celebration as the partisan crowd roared, only to have Pitbull rise and continue fighting. McKee quickly secured a guillotine choke, with referee Mike Beltran, sensing Pitbull was losing consciousness, calling a stop to the fight at 1:57 of the first round.

Pitbull, who hadn’t lost in five years and had won seven consecutive title fights, initially protested an early stoppage. Despite the Brazilian great recanting that in his postfight interviews, others have echoed the sentiment, which has the new champ motivated.

“The first fight was just kind of going in there and knowing what I needed to do, you know? This fight, I think it’s more proving a point now,” said McKee, who will turn 27 eight days before the rematch. “It’s more of a personal point with people saying, you know, the early finish. And so I want to make sure that there’s no question and no doubt left in his brain after this next fight that AJ McKee is the best 145er in the world.”

McKee has been enjoying life the past six months. He says he’s been snowboarding and rewarded himself with a 2018 Cadillac CTS V Championship Edition.

“I won a championship belt. And I bought myself a championship car. I’m feeling champ ready, champ approved,” he said.

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Last week, McKee did interviews on Radio Row ahead of Super LVI at SoFi Stadium, where McKee was wholeheartedly supporting the Rams ahead of their 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

He even joked about swapping his championship belt with Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for the right price.

“Man, Rams on top all day! I’m thinking about trading OBJ his first Super Bowl ring for my first world title with the hit list on it,” McKee said. “I know it’s crazy, but it sounds cool.”