Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
- Court McGee, a Utah native and veteran UFC fighter, secured a first-round submission victory over Tim Means at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, marking his first submission win since 2010.
- McGee, who has faced and overcome personal challenges, emphatically dismissed retirement rumors, attributing his continued passion to his family and community support.
- He expressed pride in representing Utah's fight scene, noting the community's humility and the collaborative efforts that have bolstered the local martial arts landscape.
SALT LAKE CITY — No sooner had Court McGee finished speaking with Joe Rogan inside the octagon at UFC 307 at the Delta Center than his eyes scanned the crowd, many of whom were still trickling in ahead of Saturday's main event but who provided a real home-court advantage in his early preliminary match.
Fighting without his glasses, McGee couldn't find his family — his dad, his wife, and his two sons, Isaac and Crew — in the mass of his blurred vision.
Still, McGee knew they were there, and a few days after celebrating Crew's 14th birthday — and a few days before the father-son duo will take their annual fishing trip together — he knows what he hoped they saw live: grit and determination.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound welterweight opened UFC 307 in his home state with a first-round win by submission over Tim Means to improve to 22-13 all-time in the sport.
Fourteen years after winning The Ultimate Fighter — he remembers how long it's been because Crew McGee — was born shortly after Chuck Liddell helped him win the season, McGee proved he's still got plenty left in his career.
"My first fight in the UFC was two weeks after Crew was born, and he just had his 14th birthday," McGee said while fighting back tears after the match. "I think that was around my 27th fight, with four fights in-house.
"It's incredible. I don't know what I would think. I'm just 'dad,'" added McGee, the Ogden native who coaches his sons' high school wrestling teams and others in the Utah fighting and jiu jitsu community. "I love coaching my sons' wrestling team. I absolutely love influencing and being a role model for that age, because I had such a challenge at that age, and wrestling really helped me. ... I just hope they're proud of me."
THE CRUSHER IN FRONT OF THE HOME CROWD 😤@Court_McGee secures the RNC in the first round! #UFC307pic.twitter.com/Md8KSF56YT
— UFC (@ufc) October 5, 2024
McGee jumped on Means early, backing him into the cage before working the 40-year-old "Dirty Bird" (33-17-1, fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico) to the mat with his wrestling background.
He then slipped in a neck crank — he calls it a "short choke" — and switched sides before forcing the tap-out in 3 minutes, 19 seconds.
It's McGee's first win by submission since catching Ryan Jensen in an arm triangle in the third round in October 2010, and his first wins since beating Ramiz Brahimaj by unanimous decision in January 2022.
All of that talk about "retirement" that accompanied McGee's first UFC fight in his home state since Fight Night in 2016, then? He offered a definitive "no."
"I've been asked for probably five or six years that," McGee said. "When I fought (Sean Strickland in 2017), my beard was huge and I was between trimmers, so I didn't have time to trim it; it was a monster beard. This dude then was like, 'when are you going to retire?' I was 31 years old — I'm not even in my prime yet. What are you talking about?
"Ever since I won the Ultimate Fighter, I had a conversation with Dana (White, UFC president) on the show and knew I had to have an exit strategy. Then I watched people around me blow knees out and not come back, or lose and get cut, or have a hard time making weight.
"So I was just kind of like, this is always my last fight. And I thought about that. ... But I feel good inside. I'm not going to say I fought safe, but I've spent five hours in the Octagon and only maybe 10 people have that much time. I think I'm used to fighting int here, but it feels nice to get out early."
If he can get another fight in Utah, too, McGee would love to be involved. He felt the jolt that overtook the building when he was announced, even as the first early preliminary bout.
He knows what kind of fight community calls the Beehive State home, a group that has supported his 14-year MMA career that took him from the depths of drug addiction and homelessness to the pro career he holds today.
And he's wanted to be a part of it for as long as he can.
"We have such a great fight community. But our community is very humble, a heavily religious community, and even for star athletes, the humility of this community rubs off," he said. "We have a great boxing community, and tons of fighters from gyms that are working together and combining and putting quite a few people on the cusp of making it.
"Finally with some state officials and local politicians working together, we've put together some cards that have been just outrageous. It's great."
