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SALT LAKE CITY — He isn’t the official headliner, but Ogden native Court McGee will have a strong home-octagon advantage in his next fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
McGee was one of a dozen fighters announced by UFC for the organization’s Aug. 6 debut at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
"I wanted to be on that card and represent Utah and mixed martial arts as an artist and a resident," McGee told KSL on Thursday. "I was born in Ogden, raised in Layton, and I’ve been fighting at the highest level of mixed martial arts for six years.
“There’s nothing cooler than to be able to compete in my home state.”
The 31-year-old Layton High alumnus will fight Dominique Steele, a 28-year-old native of Cincinnati with a 14-7 record. The winner of the eleventh season of UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” McGee (18-5) burst onto the scene after a background in wrestling, boxing and karate, and has been one of the top UFC fighters from the state of Utah in recent years.
The fight will be another homecoming for McGee, who fought in the then-EnergySolutions Arena early in his career during an Ultimate Combat Experience bout in 2007. The fight was among the first six times he competed professionally in MMA, and it means more to be able to help bring UFC — arguably the top MMA organization in the world — to his home state, where his career began.
“It means a lot that they would come to Utah," said McGee, who currently trains in Utah County. "In my opinion, there are a lot of fighters here in Utah. I think there’s a huge support; I’ve received a lot, and it’s incredible."
The headliner for UFC Fight Night 92 in Salt Lake City is the featherweight bout between Alex Caceres and Yair Rodriguez, while Tatsuya Kawajiri and Cub Swanson will co-lead the event.
Rodriguez has won six-straight fights and is a perfect 4-0 inside the UFC octagon. In his most recent bout, the 145-pound featherweight knocked out Andre Fili in the second round of UFC 197.
Caceres is 2-0 with a pair of unanimous decisions since returning to the featherweight classification in January.
Santiago Ponzinibbio will fight Zak Cummings in another welterweight showdown. Ponzinibbio was the last fighter to beat McGee, winning by TKO in April. It was McGee’s first non-decision loss in UFC history.
Also announced were bouts between Macin Tubura and Viktor Pesta, and Chris Camozzi and Thales Leites.
UFC Fight Night 92 is being billed as the mixed martial arts organization’s first official event held in Utah. UFC canceled an event in 2010 citing poor ticket sales and lack of early interest in the event that was originally scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010.
