Justin McCully "close to 100 percent" for Gonzaga clash

by John Morgan- MMAjunkie.com on Jul 04, 2008 at 4:49 pm ET

Eleven-year veteran and one-time Team Punishment fighter Justin McCully (8-3-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will enter his second heavyweight bout in the UFC much as he did the first -- a decided underdog. But McCully is relaxed and ready on the eve of his UFC 86 undercard bout with Gabriel Gonzaga.

McCully discussed the challenges he faced in the 15 months since his latest UFC appearance while a guest on a today's edition of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

"I'm in shape right now, so I'm ready to get in there and do this," McCully said. "After eight hard weeks of training, you just want to get it over with. Now's the moment where you're going, 'Come on. Just hurry up and get here.'"

McCully has had plenty of time to plan his return to the octagon. An injury suffered in his April 2007 victory over Antoni Hardonk forced the 32-year-old out of action.

"I got caught in an armbar at the end of the first round with Antoni Hardonk," McCully explained. "He was bending my arm backward. It was a good thing we were face down and Herb Dean couldn't see my arm pulled backward, so he didn't stop the fight. ... I had to have surgery and fix it up."

McCully said the procedure to remove bone spurs and repair ligament detachments was a success.

"I'm back probably at as close to 100 percent as you can be," McCully said. "I'm ready to get in there and bang."

A surgically repaired elbow won't be the only enhancement McCully brings to the cage tomorrow night. A freshly cropped head of hair will be on display, as the corn rows worn by McCully in his previous bout proved to be a problem.

"[My hair] kind of presented a problem in the last fight against Hardonk," McCully admitted. "(I) took [Hardonk] down, had him up against the cage, and he was holding on to my hair like it was a handle. Those braids just kind of made a little lip there for him to wedge his glove in between my neck and my hair. I was hard time lifting up to get separation so I could punch and elbow and do different things, and it kind of cost me a little bit there. So I wanted to eliminate anything negative that somebody could do to me."

Gonzaga enters the contest after two straight defeats. McCully, despite riding a four-fight win streak, is picked by most to end up on the losing end of the contest. No longer with Team Punishment, McCully has devised a game plan with his new instructor, Allan Goes, to take out "Napao."

"[Gonzaga] is a big guy," McCully said. "I'm giving up some size to him. I'm probably giving up 15 to 20 pounds and maybe an inch in height. But I'm obviously going to do my best to use my speed and not let him trap me underneath him."

McCully, despite never having earned a knockout in his eight career victories, felt the fight could be won on the feet.

"I know everybody is scared of that big, vicious head kick he caught 'Cro Cop' with," McCully said. "But it came after [Gonzaga] softened him up with a good ground-and-pound assault. I'm looking forward to not letting him get on top of me, and pound him out on our feet."

McCully also discussed the state of Team Punishment, his time in professional wrestling, and why he returned to MMA after a three-year layoff. To hear the full interview, download Friday's edition of TAGG Radio, available for free in the TAGG Radio archives.