Las Vegas, NV — By now, UFC fans are no doubt familiar with Terrance McKinney’s backstory.
The lightweight fighter, who won his promotional debut earlier this year, nearly died in 2015 while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Scratch that, he did die— twice. After being tased by police and loaded into an ambulance, McKinney’s heart stopped twice. Paramedics revived him both times.
Mckinney took that moment as the inspiration to turn his life around. He became a leader for Spokane, Washington’s Youth Police Initiative. And he made it all the way to Dana White’s Contender Series, where a much wider audience was introduced to the story of “T.Wrecks.”
It’s a story he doesn’t mind being out there, no matter how embarrassing or personal it might seem on the surface.
“If it’s a story, like a testimony, that I can help people heal, then the pleasure’s all mine,” he told Cageside Press ahead of Friday’s World MMA Awards. “I’ll never get sick and tired of telling the story. As long as it keeps helping someone, then I’m going to keep saying it as many times as I have to.”
All his hard work to come back from that moment has paid off in the end, with McKinney (11-3) having made it from the regional scene to the biggest fight promotion in the world.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said of that journey. “I know that I can get hurt any day, so that’s why I’m going to live it up and take it day by day. Just like, just enjoy and let it all soak in.”
“I’m going to continue doing that in the cage and continue to evolve, because it’s an endless game,” McKinney added. “You can always improve, and that’s why I love this sport, that’s why I love being here today.”
Watch our full chat with Terrance McKinney ahead of the 2021 World MMA Awards above.
