LAS VEGAS — Standing in his most successful moment as a professional, Court "The Crusher" McGee reached out to those whose fight he understands all too well.
In an emotional post-win speech Saturday, he dedicated his victory in The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale to those struggling with addiction.
It's a group many people wouldn't claim. But McGee not only claims them, he is one of them.
When asked about being the underdog in Saturday's fight, he laughed.
"Yeah, I'm the underdog," he told the Deseret News just moments after winning the fight against Kris McCray with a rear naked choke hold at 3:41 in the second round. "I was on heroin six years ago."
Homeless, estranged from his parents and closest friends, McGee's daily efforts were aimed at getting high.
And then he died.
Found on the floor of a bathroom in a trailer by a stranger, he got lucky. Paramedics were less than a couple hundred yards away at a nearby trailer, responding to an emergency that turned out to be a false alarm. They revived him.
And then he went about saving his own life.
There were relapses — two of them. One just a few days out of rehab, the other five and a half months sober. He started drinking in Las Vegas and woke up four days later.
"I ended up in Iowa with no pants looking for meth," he said. "That's when I realized I couldn't have just one beer. I wanted them all."
He hasn't had a drink — or the urge to get high — since.
In part because he reconnected with his parents, married his high school sweetheart and started his own family. Oh, and he rekindled his boyhood dream of being a professional MMA fighter.
"I've been doing this since I was 5 years old," he said after his semifinal win. "I quit my job as a full-time plumber to do this."
While his family supported his efforts, others expressed their doubts. His mother said she always believed he'd make his dream a reality because when he talked about it, he had the "same sparkle in his eye" that he'd had when he was delighted and inspired as a boy.
She runs through the list of things he's done once confronted with people who doubted him. They include a swan dive from the top platform in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, when he was 4.
"He's always been his own man," she said, while watching him work out at The Academy in Orem just days before the finale fight. "With that same smile on his face and the determination, he has a goal to do whatever it takes. And as far as he's come, he doesn't ever forget where he comes from. He's humble. He's dedicated to his family. He's a great brother, a great father and husband and a wonderful son. He's humble. He's going to do this."
McGee shares his story not to drum up sympathy or admiration but to inspire people trying to wrench their lives back from the monster that is addiction. He said he's open about his past problems because he wants to offer others hope.
Even before Saturday's win that guarantees him a six-figure contract with the UFC and offers him the chance to fight some of the world's best, McGee said he is a happy, fulfilled man.
"For me, it's recovery first, family second and third is fighting," he said. "My job today is to be where I'm of maximum use to others. My life is in order today. I'm having fun, and I'm determined to take this as far as I can."
That determination took him to the top of this particular mountain on Saturday. He won the TUF 11 Finale and the chance to say one more time how far hard work and gratitude can take a man.
"It's a pretty amazing feeling," he said in a telephone interview immediately after the win. "I am just grateful and living in gratitude. This is 4,000 hours worth of work. I don't even know what to say."
McGee said he was nervous before his bout with McCray.
"We just went over the same things we always do, keep you hands up, your chin down. And go after what we trained for," he said. "And that is a win."
He left the cage Saturday night and kissed his wife, who is six months pregnant with their second son.
"I feel good," he said. "I have a few knots, nothing serious. I have a mandatory break, but I'll be back to training after that. It's really amazing."
e-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com