Terrance McKinney plans to “shut the haters up” with stoppage win over Erick Gonzalez: “I guarantee I hit harder than Jim Miller”

Terrance McKinney wanted to return much sooner than this Saturday night.

McKinney is coming off a TKO loss to Drew Dober in a fight where he nearly earned what would have been his sixth straight finish. Although he lost, he says that fight was a win-win as he learned what he needed to improve on.

“I think it was a win-win,” McKinney said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I got to gain experience and I got to learn what I needed to work on and got to show I can compete with the best guys in the world.”

After getting healthy, McKinney wanted to return much sooner but Erick Gonzalez was not ready to return until August. With that, he decided to wait as he liked the style matchup as it should be a fun fight for the fans.

“I wanted to come back sooner but the opponent wouldn’t be ready until August so we had to push it back…,” McKinney said. “I’ve studied a few of his fights, I didn’t see anything too special. He is kind of wild and that will make for an exciting fight so I can’t wait for August 6.”

Once Terrance McKinney began studying the fight, he got a lot of confidence given the fact Gonzalez is coming off a KO loss to Jim Miller.

McKinney knows he hits harder than Gonzalez and he’s excited to get another stoppage victory to return to the win column.

“That does give me a lot of confidence because I guarantee I hit harder than Jim Miller. I’m also not just a hard hitter, I also am a slick striker and can set things up,” McKinney said. “I’m also going to show the fans I’ve been working on my cardio so I can slow-roast him… We are putting an emphasis on my cardio this camp so I’m excited to shut the haters up…

“I’m just going to be a complete mixed martial artist, not just a becoming a wild man after I drop a person. I’ll look for the submissions as well and show my fight IQ has grown,” McKinney said.

If McKinney does finish Gonzalez he believes he will need one more fight before he starts fighting ranked opponents at lightweight.

“I think it puts me where one more good fight and then I fight for a ranked spot,” McKinney said.

Do you think Terrance McKinney will finish Erick Gonzalez at UFC Vegas 59?