Electric finish artist Terrance McKinney looked to rebound from a loss at UFC Vegas 77 as he took on Azerbaijani Nazim Sadykhov, who won ‘Fight of the Night’ honors in his UFC debut earlier this year.
Terrance may have been only be 3-2 in the UFC, but he had built a sizable profile for himself based on his thrilling fight style which has seen him finish all his UFC wins in the first round and have a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate against Drew Dober on top of that. He is an excellent finisher, but has had issues with cardio at times. Sadykhov, on the other hand, has not lost a bout since his pro debut, and looked to improve to 2-0 in the UFC with a win against McKinney.
Both men fight primarily as southpaws, which was on display Saturday. McKinney landed a strong straight left off the bat and shot in for a takedown, which Sadykhov defended. However, the ensuing clinch exchange allowed McKinney to keep working to get the fight to the mat and he did so, tripping Sadykhov and taking the back. McKinney locked up a body triangle and threatened a rear-naked choke while landing strikes from the back. It was all that Sadykhov could do to defend the choke, he could not even threaten much of an escape from the position. Finally with forty-five seconds left in the round Sadykhov was able to reverse and escape the body triangle, ending up on top in full guard. They stood back up with thirty seconds left and Sadykhov looked to get his revenge. He landed two left hands before McKinney grabbed onto a single leg and stalled the last few seconds of the round away.
The second round saw Sadykhov come out hard on the front foot, pressing McKinney back and throwing combinations so that he could not be pressed up against the fence himself again. McKinney responded with a takedown attempt which was easily defended, but the second one ended up with McKinney being reversed and forced to the ground. He tried to turn to get up but Sadykhov took Terrance’s back, flattened him out, and instantly locked up a rear-naked choke. Terrance could do nothing but tap.
FLIPS THE SCRIPT! 😳@Naz_MMA gets the round 2 submission win at #UFCVegas77! pic.twitter.com/xAyn9yac0F
— UFC (@ufc) July 16, 2023
Official Result: Nazim Sadykhov def. Terrance McKinney by Submission (rear-naked choke) Round 2, 1:07
