Court McGee

Early career

Court McGee participated in high school wrestling at Layton High School placing 6th in the 5A State Division in 2002 and 3rd in the 5A State Division in 2003, under Mike Hansen. Later in life, after an absence from the sport, McGee returned to Layton High School to become an assistant wrestling coach. McGee also holds a background in karate, in which he has amassed over 100 kumite.

McGee started his MMA career in 2007 in his home state of Utah, compiling a record of 10-1, with two technical knockouts and five submission wins. Two notable fights occurred during this period, with a submission win over DaMarques Johnson and a loss to Jeremy Horn.

In September 2008, McGee faced Isidro Gonzalez at the "Throwdown Showdown" event in Orem, Utah. McGee won the match after a unanimous decision. McGee was scheduled to compete in December 2008 against Ray Lazama for the Gladiator Challenge Middleweight title. However, the bout never transpired for unknown reasons. McGee instead faced Dayle Jarvis in July 2009. In what would turn out to be his final appearance on the local MMA circuit, McGee won by a Technical Knockout (TKO) over his opponent in under four minutes.

The Ultimate Fighter

In March 2010, McGee was announced as part of the eleventh season of The Ultimate Fighter. In the elimination round, McGee narrowly defeated Seth Baczynski after going to a sudden victory round. McGee was later picked by Chuck Liddell as his sixth pick and twelfth overall.

McGee was then defeated by the show's number one pick Nick Ring in the sixth preliminary fight. After two rounds, the judges declared the fight a victory for Ring via majority decision (20–18, 19–19, 20–18). Dana White and Chuck Liddell both stated that the fight should have gone to a third round.

When Rich Attonito broke his hand, his spot in the quarter-finals became open. Due to the controversial loss to Ring, White selected McGee to fight in his place. In the quarter-finals, McGee was set to have a rematch with Ring, but Ring pulled out of the competition due to a knee injury. James Hammortree stepped in as Ring's replacement. Early in the second round, McGee submitted Hammortree with a rare standing guillotine choke.

In the semi-finals he faced teammate Brad Tavares to earn a spot in the live finale. After a fairly even first two rounds, McGee dropped Tavares late in the third round with a left hook and locked in a fight-ending rear naked choke.

This advanced him to the TUF 11 finale where he faced Team Ortiz/Franklin fighter, Kris McCray in the main event. McGee spent half of his training camp away from his usual gym "Victory MMA", instead preferring to stick with his Ultimate Fighter coach, Chuck Liddell at The Pit. McGee defeated McCray by submission in the second round with a rear naked choke, making him the winner of the Ultimate Fighter Season 11, despite all the difficulties and bad luck he encountered on the show. McGee was also awarded the Submission of the Night award.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

McGee's first post-TUF fight was against UFC veteran, Ryan Jensen at UFC 121. Early in the first round, McGee was hit with a stiff shot that dropped him and later suffered a minor cut below his eye. In the second round, Jensen began to visibly tire and after being hit, began to bleed from the nose. McGee won the second round after a takedown just before the bell. In the third round, McGee successfully executed a takedown and a full mount, where he secured an arm triangle choke to force the tapout at 1:21 of the final round.

McGee was expected to face Jesse Bongfeldt on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131, but was reportedly forced out of the bout due to a knee injury. Matt Serra-trained fighter Chris Weidman stepped up to take McGee's place on the UFC 131 fight card against Bongfeldt.

McGee faced Dongi Yang on September 17, 2011 at UFC Fight Night 25. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

McGee faced Costas Philippou on March 3, 2012 at UFC on FX 2. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

McGee fought Nick Ring in a rematch at UFC 149. McGee lost via a close unanimous decision. For the second time in a bout against Ring, the loss was regarded as controversial by many media sources. Stats after the fight showed that McGee outstruck Ring 32-25 in the second round and 53-16 in the final round. After the fight, McGee said "I felt like I had cage control, was more aggressive, out-struck him and attempted a submission in the third round. I should not have left it in the hands of the judges and finished the fight."

McGee made his welterweight debut against Josh Neer on February 23, 2013 at UFC 157. McGee was victorious, winning a unanimous decision after three rounds. According to Fightmetric, McGee broke the record for most significant strikes landed in a welterweight fight, landing 166 in the three round affair.

McGee faced fellow Ultimate fighter winner Robert Whittaker on August 28, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 27. He won the fight via split decision.

McGee was expected to face Kelvin Gastelum on December 14, 2013 at UFC on Fox 9. However, Gastelum pulled out of the bout with a knee injury and was replaced by Ryan LaFlare. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Following his loss to Ryan LaFlare, McGee was out of action for over 18 months recovering from a litany of injuries. He returned to face Márcio Alexandre Jr. on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194. McGee won the fight by unanimous decision.

McGee faced Santiago Ponzinibbio on April 16, 2016 at UFC on Fox 19. He lost the bout via TKO in the first round.

McGee next faced Dominique Steele on August 6, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 92. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

McGee faced Ben Saunders on January 15, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 103. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

McGee is expected to face Sean Strickland on November 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 120.

Personal life

McGee and his wife Chelsea have two sons, Isaac and Crew Charles. The second son's middle name was taken from McGee's friend and Ultimate Fighter coach, Chuck Liddell's first name. McGee is of Irish and Scottish descent.

McGee is a former heroin addict and in 2005, he was declared clinically dead after overdosing on heroin at his cousin's house before he was resuscitated. McGee had to learn to walk, speak and function again after his first overdose. McGee said that his path into drug and alcohol abuse began when he started to hang out with "the wrong people - drinking, partying." After suffering an injury to his clavicle and elbow, McGee became dependent to painkillers, which he later mixed with alcohol. McGee had taken cocaine and heroin before overdosing. After his near-death experience, McGee suffered a couple of relapses. On an episode of The Ultimate Fighter, McGee said "I took one drink in Vegas and I ended up in Iowa four days later with no pants on and a long sleeve shirt, looking for meth."

Since April 2006, McGee has been clean and uses his story to encourage those who may be struggling with addictions of their own.

Championships and accomplishments

Boxing career

In addition to his Mixed Martial Arts career, McGee has also compiled a 2–0 record as a professional boxer in the cruiserweight division. Both fights took place in 2008, in between his MMA career.

His first fight was against Francisco Antonio Alacantara in May 2008. McGee defeated him via unanimous decision (40–35, 40–36, 39–36) in a four-round fight, having defeated Hank Weiss in an MMA fight just days earlier.

This was followed up by another unanimous decision victory (40–36, 40–36, 39–37) over Freddie Martinez. McGee revealed in June 2010 that this fight took place during his bachelor weekend.