Terrance McKinney stepped on the scale Friday morning in New York and the number came back 160.2. That’s 4.2 pounds north of the lightweight limit for his UFC 334 prelim against Jim Miller. The fight survives as a catchweight, with McKinney forfeiting 30 percent of his purse to Miller, according to Aaron Bronsteter and MMA Fighting.
Miller had no issues. He came in at 155.6.
McKinney didn’t hide from it. He posted an apology on X shortly after the miss, writing that he had never missed weight before, and then he closed the door on the division himself. He wrote that his time at 155 is over and that Saturday will officially be his last bout at lightweight. He added that he’s trusting in God to have him ready for whatever comes at welterweight, so the plan is a jump all the way to 170 once Saturday is behind him. Spinnin Backfist and MiddleEasy both picked up the announcement within minutes.
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That makes Saturday a strange kind of farewell. McKinney is closing his lightweight run against a man who has basically lived there. This is Miller’s 48th walk to the Octagon, a UFC record that Yahoo Sports reasonably called one that may never be broken. For perspective, when the UFC finally made its Madison Square Garden debut at UFC 205 a decade ago, Miller was on that card in only his 25th UFC fight, outpointing Thiago Alves. He’s the New Jersey kid who keeps showing up across the river.
And he’s showing up on faith. Miller told MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn earlier this week that the five-fight contract Dana White announced was never actually signed, and that he’s entering UFC 334 without a contract or a bout agreement. “At the moment I think it’s just all verbal,” Miller said. So the 30 percent cut of McKinney’s purse lands with a guy who isn’t even working under paper right now. Not a bad Friday for him.
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Miller vs. McKinney sits on the Paramount+ prelims Saturday, which start at 7 p.m. ET, on the same stretch of the card as Drew Dober vs. Chris Duncan and Stephen Thompson’s final fight against Charles Radtke. Ciryl Gane defends the heavyweight title against Josh Hokit in the main event, with Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes in the co-main.
My take: credit McKinney for owning it fast and without excuses, because plenty of fighters go quiet after a miss like this. But you don’t miss by 4.2 pounds on a bad morning. That’s his body filing the paperwork for him. A move to 170 was going to happen eventually, and now he gets to make it with one last reason to show up sharp. If he wants to leave 155 on a high note, he has to beat a 48-fight veteran who just got paid extra to stand across from him at the Garden on Saturday.
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