Hadžović has only been knocked out once in his career and only submitted once, as well. His other losses have gone to the judges’ scorecards. Meanwhile, McKinney has never been the full distance in his professional career. He has only seen the third round once in his career and it was back in 2018.
McKinney is eager to show off all the skills that he has been working on, and show off his wrestling, a skill he has had most of his life as someone who competed in high school. He believes that could be a path to victory against Hadžović. The game plan is simple.
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“Just make sure I’m in his face, put the hands on him, hurt him early, just be a mixed martial artist,” McKinney said. “We saw he had a weakness wrestling, so just making sure I’m mixing it all.”
Stepping in the Octagon for the first time in eight months on Saturday night, McKinney has big expectations for himself in 2025, as he wants to fight three times and go 3-0, and remind everyone he’s still the one who holds the record for the fastest knockout in lightweight history.
