Terrance McKinney plans to prove Nazim Sadykhov is not the “guy he thinks he is” with a first-round finish at UFC Vegas 77

Terrance McKinney is excited to show off his improvements.

McKinney is coming off a KO loss to Ismael Bonfim back in January at UFC 283 and after the defeat, he decided to change camps. Terrance McKinney decided to go down to Texas and start training with Kevin Holland which he says has been a major benefit to him.

“This is perfect, it gave me enough time to heal and change camps,” McKinney said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “Just get dialed in with the better techniques with my striking… Kevin Holland convinced me, man. We clicked like that, and I like what they are doing out here. I’m around the right people and I’m losing at practice and that will benefit me in the fight, as I’d rather lose in the gym than the fight.”

Once Terrance McKinney was ready to fight, he wasn’t sure who would be next but was offered Nazim Sadykhov at UFC Vegas 77. Although he wasn’t too familiar with him, once he started studying him, McKinney only got more confident that this will be a flawless victory.

“Not too familiar but I watched his fights, he likes to come forward and it will make for an exciting fight, especially at the Apex. I’m ready to show off my new fundamentals, my defense is a lot better,” McKinney said. “Just expect another flawless victory in the first round, especially at the Apex, I fight better there.”

Although Terrance McKinney expects to get a stoppage win in the first round, he isn’t afraid to take this fight into the later rounds. He knows he has improved on his cardio and believes he can outclass Nazim Sadykhov for 15 minutes at UFC Vegas 77 if need be.

However, McKinney believes he won’t need all 15 minutes as he plans to prove to Sadykhov that he isn’t the guy he thinks he is.

“I’m ready to just outclass him all three rounds if need be. I’m going to show a different Terrance, a clean Terrance that can go all three rounds and can be clan all around with the defense and striking… Every time I’m out here, I’m out to have fun and when I have something to prove, that is when I have the most fun,” Terrance McKinney said. “My back is against the wall and that is when I have the most fun, I don’t like losing two in a row and it will be a fun fight… Honestly, this dude thinks he’s so good but he was losing that fight if he didn’t get the cut. I don’t think he is the guy he thinks he is, and I will prove that on July 15.”

Should Terrance McKinney get the stoppage win he’s after, he isn’t sure what would be next for him. Instead, he says he isn’t in a rush and wants the right fights before he starts facing ranked opponents again.

“It just shows the world where I am at. I will take the right fights, no need to rush. So I will start the run and get two fights after this and then get a ranked opponent. When the right Terrance shows up, I know I can compete with anyone in the world,” McKinney said.