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Terrance McKinney now faces Sean Woodson on Dana White’s Contender Series
Terrance McKinney (7-1) will fight for a UFC contract on July 23, but it will not be against Adli Edwards. Edwards suffered an injury, and McKinney now has a new opponent in Sean “The Sniper” Woodson. Woodson is 5-0 and fights out of Missouri.
“I see myself tagging him up a little bit, taking him down and getting him out of there,” McKinney said.
Just over four years ago, McKinney was a top wrestler at Chadron State College, who got in with the wrong crowd and was dealing with drug addiction. One particular night, on acid and mushrooms, he almost died, twice.
“At that point, I knew I had to make a life change or I wouldn’t be able to do what I love,” McKinney said. “My college team, Chadron State, they let me come back and I just said I’m going to take everything seriously; I’m done being a dummy. God gave me another chance so I can’t let this go to waste.”
McKinney’s sophomore year, he was ranked #2 in the nation.
McKinney’s offered some advice to people dealing with drug addiction. “You are who you hang out with. If you want to make a change, you’ve got to start there, cut the people off. Start hanging out with people who you want to truly be like.”
It’s easier said than done, but McKinney was determined to get his life back on track. “I was just like, I’ve got to get out of this state, get a chance of scenery,” McKinney said. Try to stay in, keep to myself. I stayed in the house for the whole summer with my Mom. I tried to stay with my family so I know I’ll be doing the right thing.”
Drug addiction takes so many lives. It’s a horrible problem facing our country. I think most of us know someone who has dealt with drug addiction or lost someone to drug addiction. There are so many stats out there. 19.7 Million American adults aged 12 and older battled substance abuse in 2017, according to americanaddictioncenters.org. Almost 38% of adults battled an illicit drug use disorder in 2017. There are hotlines you can call, and people trained to help those of you suffering from addiction. I wish I could do more, just know you are not alone and there are always people here to support you.
McKinney trains out of SikJitsu in Spokane, Washington with teammates like Michael ‘The Maverick’ Chiesa and Julianna Pena.
“He’s always been a mentor to me,” McKinney said about Chiesa. “I look up to him, he’d come to help out where I wrestled at. Once I saw him win The Ultimate Fighter, I was like, that’s got to be one of the greatest feelings, and I wanted to have that feeling.”
McKinney only has one professional loss. The loss came against Tyrone Henderson when McKinney landed a leg kick and snapped his leg. “I was feeling so good that fight, maybe the best I’ve felt,” McKinney said. “I rocked him, fake leg kick to an overhand right, so I’m feeling myself at that point like, alright, I’m about to KO this dude. So then I go for another leg kick, same setup and I snapped my leg. But I didn’t go down, I was like, screw it. He ran at me and I was like, maybe if I get the takedown I can choke him out real quick and go down as a legend. My leg was already snapped. I looked at my coach like, what do I do?” The fight was ruled a loss via doctor stoppage.
Only one of McKinney’s seven victories lasted past the first round. He has six of seven first-round finishes, including one fight where he finished his opponent in seven seconds.
“I’m T.Wrecks, [his nickname]” McKinney said. “I don’t like to play with my food. I like to eat people alive.”
July 23. T.Wrecks is planning to feast.
