Although it would take just less than two minutes, A.J. McKee has never watched his stunning dethroning of Bellator pound-for-pound champion Patricio Pitbull in July.

Highlights, sure. But no need for the new champion to take anything away from their $1 million bout in the Featherweight World Grand Prix finale at Bellator 263 at The Forum in Inglewood. He has learned his lesson.

McKee began to celebrate after leveling Pitbull with a devastating head kick and uppercut combo, only to have Pitbull gamely rise as the referee kept the fight going. Fortunately for the Long Beach native, he quickly cinched a neck-torqueing guillotine choke that led to a technical submission over the two-division champion.

“He could have recovered and the fight could have went on another four rounds,” the 27-year-old undefeated McKee said. “So this time, you know, I’ll be on him like white on rice.”

Seven and a half months later, the rematch will take place in the Bellator 277 main event Friday night at SAP Center in San Jose. McKee says this one won’t last two rounds. Pitbull is focused more on vengeance than the title.

“I feel you’re a champion for so long, for five years, that the belt just ends up being a piece of metal, you know?” Pitbull said in Portuguese through translator Max Soares. “Right now, my focus and all I’ve got is toward the guy that took that belt from me and winning. That’s what’s making me drive through every day in every training session is just revenge.”

Going into the initial McKee fight, Pitbull (32-5) hadn’t lost in five years and had won seven consecutive title fights. What’s more, the 34-year-old Brazilian phenom had never been finished in 36 professional fights spanning 17 years.

He has reviewed their bout and knows what he must adjust – like being too patient and finding himself backed into a corner, where McKee (18-0) unleashed his head kick.

“I can’t make the same mistake of getting into his distance and not come in so calm and composed like I was last time,” Pitbull said. “That’s the most difficult thing about experience – with time, you get too calm and you can’t let that happen.”

True to his name, a more aggressive Pitbull is what fight fans are accustomed to and what they might get.

Antonio McKee, A.J.’s father and coach and a former MMA fighter, welcomes that approach.

“If he does, he’ll get knocked out. He’ll get hurt,” Antonio McKee said. “Because A.J.’s pretty accurate. And it’s like slow motion for him. Then he chimes down to that small circle, where it’s just him and the opponent. And he’s really moving. He’s like a computer.”

Two of McKee’s Bellator peers identify what makes McKee such a potent threat in the cage.

Women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has spent her past two camps training with the McKees and Team Body Shop in Long Beach and admires McKee’s footwork and movement.

“It’s very technical. He moves very light and it’s nice to see,” said Cyborg, who defends her title April 23 against Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279 in Honolulu. “He knows the time he has to use the strength. He knows the time you just have to flow. It’s nice.”

Aaron Pico, who trained for years with McKee before moving to Albuquerque three years ago and training full-time at Jackson Wink MMA, predicted his longtime friend would win the 16-man tournament.

What’s more, Pico believes McKee isn’t just the best 145-pounder in the world, but one of the top fighters in MMA and will make it look easy again in his first title defense.

“Yeah, he hasn’t fought the guys in the other organization, but I know him as a fighter and the team that he’s got,” said the 9-3 featherweight prospect, who goes for his sixth consecutive win when he fights late replacement Adli Edwards (9-1) in a 150-pound catchweight on Friday’s main card. “His body’s just built for fighting. He’s got long arms, long legs, and he can put it all together. He can put it together as a mixed martial artist.”

With a four-inch height advantage over the 5-foot-5 Pitbull and an 8-inch reach advantage, McKee concurs: “My kicking range is out of his range completely. My punching range is his kicking range. His punching range means I’m too close to get away.”

After the loss, Pitbull still held the lightweight title and hinted he might move up to that division. McKee responded that he might chase Pitbull to 155 pounds and take that belt too.

Instead, Pitbull relinquished the lightweight championship, allowing his older brother, Patricky, to win it via a second-round TKO of Peter Queally in November.

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McKee says it was a smart move but Patricky Pitbull isn’t worthy of a title and alluded to fighting him in the near future. Then again, McKee says he understands Patricio Pitbull’s motives.

“Why would he want to see me faster, stronger and bigger at 155?” McKee said. “But that’s what (ticks) me off and made me motivated to just go really whoop his (butt) one last time. So I keep calling it icing on the cake. It’s gonna be sweet.”

Bellator 277

When: Saturday

Where: SAP Center, San Jose

How to watch: prelims (4 p.m., Bellator MMA YouTube/SHOWTIME Sports YouTube/Pluto TV); main card (7 p.m., Showtime)