"We miss out on all the Tai Tuivasas' of the world" - Terrance McKinney blames pre-fight sponsorship ads for ruining 'cool' walkouts
Terrance McKinney recently expressed his distaste for sponsorship advertisements. According to 'T.Wrecks', pre-fight ads deprive fans of "cool" walkouts that have forever adorned the fight game.
McKinney believes we are missing out on numerous walkouts that could potentially be as cool as those of Tai Tuivasa, whose unique journeys to the octagon have had the MMA community in stitches in recent times. McKinney recently wrote on Twitter:
"Entrance music used to be the coolest thing. Whether it was Stone Cold, The Rock, Darren Till, or Conor McGregor - their iconic walkouts set the stage. We miss out on all the Tai Tuivasas’ of the world cause they need one more Glade plug-in ad to run before a fight."
Entrance music used to be the coolest thing. Whether it was Stone Cold, The Rock, Darren Till, or Conor McGregor - their iconic walkouts set the stage. We miss out on all the Tai Tuivasas’ of the world cause they need one more Glade plug-in ad to run before a fight.
Tai Tuivasa recently earned a spectacular KO victory over Augusto Sakai at UFC 269. 'Bam Bam' walked out to a 1997 classic by Aqua, 'Barbie Girl'. When asked about his choice of music, Tuivasa said at the post-fight press conference:
"I’m a barbie girl. You know what I mean? You can’t tell me you don’t love that song! Come on! Everyone! When that comes on, you know you’re boppin’. The crowd loved it, I loved it and the rest is history."
Watch Tai Tuivasa's appearance at the UFC 269 post-fight presser below:
Terrance McKinney's UFC debut
Terrance McKinney made an appearance on Dana White's Contender Series back in 2019. 'T.Wrecks' looked good before being halted by a flying knee from Sean Woodson in the second round.
After dropping another bout against Darrick Minner, Terrance McKinney went on a three-fight winning streak that earned him a UFC contract. He made his promotional debut against Matt Frevola on short notice at UFC 263.
At the June 2020 pay-per-view, McKinney scored a stunning seven-second knockout win against Frevola, the fastest KO in UFC lightweight history.
Overwhelmed by the win, Terrance McKinney injured his leg during the celebration. According to him, he couldn't focus on the landing as someone informed him that jumping from atop the cage was illegal. 'T.Wrecks' told Mike Heck of MMA Fighting:
"I was like, ‘God dang it, I’m an idiot.' Because I remember I was about to hop onto the cage to sit on there, but I remembered they said something like, ‘You can’t do that anymore, or you’ll get fined.’ So it was like, so fast, I had to double think, I wasn’t even focused on that, it was like, ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’ That’s what I was thinking in my head and then I wasn’t thinking about the landing and I landed on my leg weird.”
Watch Terrance McKinney's interview with MMA Fighting below: