Court McGee said this week that he will finish his professional career with a retirement fight against Eric Nolan at UFC 332 at the Delta Center, bringing a 38-fight MMA run to a close in his home state.
For McGee, the bout is more than a final walk to the cage. It comes after a career defined by recovery, consistency and a return to the sport after a long battle with addiction. The 41-year-old welterweight is 23-14 overall and 11-13 in the UFC, but his record only tells part of the story.
A career shaped by recovery
McGee’s path has been unusually personal for a fighter at this stage of his career. He learned martial arts when he was young and started wrestling in eighth grade, but his life changed after an injury led to an OxyContin prescription and a spiral into substance abuse.
He said April 16, 2006, was the day he decided he would rather go to prison than drink the beer he had been staring at. That moment came after years of struggle, and it marked the beginning of a long sobriety journey that eventually reshaped his life and career.
“I have a good life today and I’m so grateful for that,” McGee said. He also reflected on how far that change reached beyond fighting, saying, “And I can’t help but think, if I didn’t achieve sobriety and pass that on, none of this would be possible.”
More than an athlete
McGee’s family and community work have become central parts of his identity. He previously reunited with and married his high school sweetheart, Chelsea, and they have three sons. In 2015, he founded the nonprofit McGee Project to help young people affected by addiction.
He also trains and instructs at Agema Jiu Jitsu in Provo, Utah, which has kept him connected to the next generation of athletes in the state. That connection matters even more now, because his final fight will take place close to home before a local crowd that has followed his story for years.
McGee said, “I had six months of sobriety and I thought, man, maybe I could have one. And it turns out that one led to all of them.”
At UFC 332, that journey reaches one final chapter. The opponent is Eric Nolan, and the setting is the Delta Center in Utah. For McGee, it is a fitting ending: a retirement fight in his home state after a career that stretched across 7,472 days and nearly every phase of his adult life.
