Terrance McKinney plans to appeal most recent loss, details decision to take short-notice fight at UFC Vegas 78

Terrance McKinney is calling foul over his loss to Nazim Sadykhov in July.

The veteran UFC lightweight is seeking to file an appeal with the Nevada Athletic Commission after Sadykhov grabbed the change several times in their fight, which resulted in him losing position on a takedown before eventually getting caught in a fight-ending rear-naked choke. McKinney believes referee Keith Peterson failed to effectively stop Sadykhov from committing the foul and that directly contributed to the result.

“He [grabbed the fence] in the first round as well when I had his back,” McKinney explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “That was some garbage. It should have been a point [deducted] and we’re back up.

“You can see in the video once he grabs the fence, I was collapsed to my butt trying to finish the shot instead of on my knee. Then he did it again and then I was completely on my butt having to bail out.”

Replays showed Sadykhov grabbing onto the fence multiple times with Peterson swiping at his hand to knock it loose but he opted not to pause the action or penalize the fighter with a point deduction.

As much as McKinney would have preferred to just settle business in the cage, he expects his manager to file an appeal in the coming days with hopes that the commission will review the video to see how the foul affected the outcome of the fight.

Prior to the submission, McKinney was actually pleased with his performance outside of one mistake he would have corrected if given the chance.

“We were sticking to the game plan,” McKinney said. “The first two rounds, we were just going to wrestle him and then the third round, we knew he was going to have to come in extremely crazy and that’s when we’d go ‘T-Wrecks’ and be explosive. Because we know he’s going to have to take risks so I was going to look for the knockout in the third. I felt incredibly good cardio wise. The only thing I would change up, in that second round I wish I had threw one more jab before I took the shot.

“We’re getting the appeal ready. They sent over the rules, we’re going to have it in [soon]. Hopefully everything goes well on that end [with the appeal] and I wouldn’t mind fighting him again or any of these guys again.”

While he awaits word on the appeal being filed, McKinney wasted no time booking his next fight with a short-notice opportunity to face Mike Breeden on Saturday at UFC Vegas 78.

McKinney has jumped on these kinds of fights previously in his career but this time around he didn’t really have an option after receiving advice from fellow UFC fighter Kevin Holland, who has become a close friend and mentor to him in recent months.

“We were still in shape — I went back and trained with [Kevin Holland] and helped him get prepared for his fight so I kept my weight low,” McKinney said. “He just said stay ready and this opponent just sounded right.

“It made sense and Kevin said ‘you’re taking this fight’ and I said all right, bet. You know me, I’m always down.”

After suffering back-to-back losses, regardless of the circumstances surrounding his fight with Sadykhov in July, McKinney really just wants to get back in the win column and returning sooner rather than later gives him that chance.

McKinney has nothing against Breeden but he might end up as the instrument that allows the 28-year-old Washington native to vent his frustrations after a pair of upsetting results.

“I was pretty mad about the last one,” McKinney said. “Because I definitely feel I was the better fighter. I was seeing all his attacks. I just rushed my takedown. That’s the only thing I would change in that fight. Instead of throwing one punch, I should have put two together and then shot. That’s the only thing I would change. Just being more calculated. I didn’t have to rush the takedown. Just make sure I’m comfortable out there.

“I’m trying to get my get back. Here’s the chance. God put the window there and we seized it. I’m ready to get in this dude’s face and I know we’re going to knock him out. I’m ready to put the crush on this guy and walkout with a knockout.”