Terrance McKinney will make his fifth walk to the Octagon on January 21st at UFC 283.
The promotion makes its highly-anticipated return to Brazil with a stacked lineup currently headlined by the fourth meeting between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. On that night, ‘T.Wrecks’ will look for his fourth career UFC victory against Dana White’s Contender Series winner, Ismael Bonfim.
Ahead of his return to the Octagon, McKinney spoke with Mike Owens in a Middle Easy exclusive to discuss the current state of the UFC’s lightweight division. Specifically, the new 155-pound king Islam Makhachev.
“Everything everyone’s been saying about Islam was right. This dude is built different. His squeeze is different. His striking was on point. He was ready. That’s all I can say. Their numbers don’t lie. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do. I can’t wait to fight him someday because I don’t care about none of that wrestling stuff. I just care about putting a whoopin’ on him. Cause these guys have never been hurt before. I want to see them then. We’ll see who’s really about that life.”
As far as how you beat Islam Makhachev, Terrence McKinney has a very simple solution.
“Hurt him. Hurt him because he’s never experienced that and when you’ve never experienced something, that’s how you get the body to just shut down. His body’s never experienced anything like that. Really being hurt. Really being cut up. When I fight, people get hurt. Their face gets hurt. Something gets hurt and it makes their brain not want to be there and that’s what we’re gonna find out. We’re gonna see if he really wants to be there when the time comes.”
Ismael Bonfim will fight Terrance McKinney at #UFC283 on January 21st. (first rep. @MMAFighting) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFCRio #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/ZUZY2d2pxT
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 31, 2022
Terrance McKinney Believes One Man Can Beat Islam Makhachev
When it comes to who could possibly defeat Islam Makhachev in the lightweight division, Terrance McKinney puts his faith in ‘The Diamond’ to get the job done.
“Honestly, Dustin Poirier. He has the best boxing to me in our division. I know for sure he can hit Islam. He has a puncher’s chance for sure.”
Dustin Poirier is coming off a big win against ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler at UFC 281. The two fighters delivered one of the most entertaining contests of the year on November 12th, particularly the first round where both fighters were mere seconds away from a finish. In the end, Poirier would secure his fourth win in his last five bouts via a third-round rear-naked choke submission.
Poirier’s last two losses inside the Octagon came against Makhachev’s coach and former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and the man that Makhachev defeated for the 155-pound title, Charles Oliveira. If you’re a believer in MMA math, things likely wouldn’t go well for ‘The Diamond’ in a potential showdown with the Dagestani destroyer, but as McKinney said, he has a puncher’s chance. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.
