Given their lengthy tenue in the promotion, it was frankly surprising that Chiesa and McGee hadn’t yet crossed paths. Both men entered off wins, Chiesa over Max Griffin and McGee against Tim Means.

Plenty of feeling out and range-finding was on display early in Chiesa vs. McGee, plus an accidental clash of heads thanks to McGee sitting in southpaw and Chiesa in orthodox stance. A brief clinch went nowhere, but Chiesa landed a decent right hook about midway through the opening round. In a round low on action, every significant strike stood out, there just weren’t many of them.

Round two opened with calamity in the form of a low blow that dropped Chiesa instantly. Chiesa would need to take some time, but did recover, leading to more back-and-forth, low-output action on the feet. McGree would press forward about 90 seconds in, with Chiesa answering back moments later. Yet the lack of output, and secondary attacks, made it seem as if the fight was stuck in first gear, and the crowd was sounding restless as a result.

Round three saw some grappling along the fence play out, with McGee bloodied at one point. A couple of reversals, knees exchanged, but again, not a ton of action. Ref Mike Beltran warned the pair to get going; the crowd in Atlanta gave more feedback of their won. Coming off the fence, there was just under two minutes for the pair to work; they’d go to the bell, with Chiesa taking the decision in the battle of TUF winners, that was without question underwhelming.

Official Result: Michael Chiesa def. Court McGee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

The post UFC Atlanta: Michael Chiesa Beats Court McGee in Battle of TUF Champs appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I welcome the matchup. I think it’s more challenging of a matchup than the oddsmakers have it pegged as. His body of work is impressive. He’s been around for a very, very long time. Got a tremendous amount of respect for the guy,” Chiesa told reporters on Wednesday.

“Him winning The Ultimate Fighter is part of that and just everything he’s overcame in his life. It’s nice laying it on the line against guys that you have a lot of respect for.”

Chiesa (18-7) enters the fight at 37-years-old having competed in the UFC for the last 12 years. Still he’s not ready to hang it up just yet.

“Just like anybody in any sport, any athlete, I just love competition. I love to fight. I’ve been with the same coach my entire career. He would have very honest conversations with me if it was time to slow down,” he said.

“We’ve talked about this as I’ve gotten older in my career. Rick’s always said if I’m not looking good in the gym, if I’m taking too many shots, if I’m not able to perform, he would be very honest with me. That’s part of a benefit of being with someone for so long as they just know you.

“I’m still winning. Who’s to say I can’t win this fight, win another one, get another shot in the rankings? I’m not Michael Bisping, I’m not Daniel Cormier, but those guys achieved a lot of great things in the late stages of their career. If I didn’t feel I could beat the best guys in the world I wouldn’t continue to do this.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Michael Chiesa above. He takes on Court McGee at UFC Atlanta on Saturday night.

The post Michael Chiesa Excited For TUF vs TUF Matchup, Still Wants To Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

McGee had lost three straight coming into the fight, and at 39, retirement was no doubt on the horizon. “The Dirty Bird” Means was already 40, and 1-4 in his last five, almost certainly in the same boat.

An early takedown attempt and clinch battle along the fence resulted in nothing more than a return to center in the card’s curtain-jerker. About 90 seconds in, McGee ripped off a combination that had Means covering up. A few more blows from McGee and he closed the distance, earning a takedown. From there, he threatened to take the back, getting one hook in but struggling to find space with the pair right up against the cage. McGee would finally position Means a bit off the fence, then went hunting for a rear-naked choke. When McGee finally did get that second hook in, he almost fell over the top, but managed to hang on and get the back with Means sitting against him.

The rear-naked choke went in place moments later, and Means suddenly tapped! Means could be seen touching his neck afterwards, but appeared to be okay.

“I feel so much better with my neck working. It’s so much easier to compete and train,” McGee, who recently had his neck repaired, said following the win, speaking with Joe Rogan.

Official Result: Court McGee def. Tim Means by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:19

The post Court McGee Kicks Off UFC 307 with Submission of Tim Means appeared first on Cageside Press.

“He’s scrappy and he brings it. I like fighting those guys,” McGee explained, adding the additional incentives. “I’m not a footage watching. I don’t research fighters. And with Tim [Means] I don’t necessarily need to. He’s been in the UFC for a long time and I think we almost fought a couple of times actually.”

In addition to those benefits, he also noted an extra one. Tim Means typically fights left-handed and that’s something McGee has seen plenty of success with in the past.

“I think it’s great. Typically I’ve had a lot of success fighting southpaws. I’ve fought a bunch of southpaws and I have a lot of southpaws that I train with,” he explained. “So with Tim being understandably a southpaw, it’s right up my alley.”

Now feeling as good as he has in year and with a matchup he likes, McGee is ready to show out for the hometown crowd. While he respects “The Dirty Bird”, he feels like he can score his first stoppage victory in some time.

“He’s scrappy and he’s respectful. That’s a great fight,” he said adding the official prediction. “Stoppage in the third round.”

McGee’s fight with Tim Means opens up the preliminary card of UFC 307. The fight card begins at 6:30pm EST on ESPN+ this Saturday.

You can hear the entire audio of this interview below at 22:33.

The post UFC 307’s Court McGee Excited for Tim Means Matchup appeared first on Cageside Press.

McGee had lost five of his last seven, and needed a win to keep his career moving forward, while hoped to bounce back from a loss to Joaquin Buckley last October.

The fight began with Morono catching McGee with a solid punch about 20 seconds in, getting a big reaction out of his opponent. Morono kept flicking out his jab giving Court some problems especially when he would come within striking range. McGee would continue to circle, utilizing lateral movement looking for openings on his opponent. A couple of feints of a jab before a jab cross combination found McGee against the fence before he quickly battled off.  A solid knee to the body from Moreno as McGee swung another right hand towards the body. With 30 seconds left in the round, Morono landed a body kick that got a reaction out of McGee. The fighters continued to go back and forth, landing nothing too damaging, till the end of the round.

The second round would begin with a takedown attempt from Court and Morono catching a very deep guillotine choke on McGee and locking it in. Morono held the choke for just under a minute before he was forced to release it. This resulted in McGee in top position against the fence. McGee would look to land some bombs from up top before temporarily getting caught in a deep armbar attempt from Alex. McGee was able to escape from the armbar attempt and start to land strikes from Morono’s guard. Court really mixed up the strikes well while on top going to both the body and the head. Morono temporarily got another guillotine before letting it go and a few seconds later both fighters would both be back on their feet. Morono would fire off a three-strike combination ending with a right hand that again found its mark snapping McGee’s head back. Both fighters began to open up more throwing lots of shots with 30 seconds left in the round.

The final round would begin like the one previous as Court shot for a takedown, backing Morono to the fence before abandoning the shot. As the two men stood and traded at center, Morono found the right hand once again. McGee kept moving, circling, popping out jabs and leg kicks. Midway thru the round Morono was marching forward looking for a jab-cross head kick combination, with both men moving slightly out of range of most of the more damaging strikes. A spinning back kick from Morono found its target on McGee’s body. With under a minute left, both men were again starting to let their hands go. With 10 seconds left, Morono tagged Court with a right hand and attempted a spinning back fist that whiffed; McGee seized the opportunity and landed a takedown. That’s how the fight would end with McGee in top position as time expired.

Official Decision: Alex Morono def. Court McGee by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 90: Alex Morono Decisions TUF Champ Court McGee appeared first on Cageside Press.

McGee had done something to his neck a few years back. While he had been doing things to try to make it better, it was not time to really fix it.

“It was an injury that a sustained in another fight that I had postponed [dealing with] for six or seven fights,” McGee said. “I had done everything you could do. I did therapy and ozone injections and stem sell stuff. It got to a point where it got real, real bad after this last fight.”

While surgery made all the sense in the world, McGee was initially hesitant on jumping to it.

“I had heard so many horror stories about people having bad neck surgeries and not being able to compete,” he said. “I was nervous. They are either fusing or replacing disks.”

To put himself at ease, McGee researched the doctor’s closely and finally felt comfortable enough to make the move. They cut him open and replaced a pair of disks (between C5-C6 and C6-C7).

From there, McGee went through physical therapy and then put himself through a month-long, mock training camp. When things not only held up, but felt better than he could ever imagine, he made the call to Sean Shelby.

“I didn’t realize how much pain I was in. I didn’t realize how limiting the mobility was,” he revealed. “And now it’s funny, my kids will talk to me or one of my students and I’ll look back like an old guy – like keep my neck still. Then I’m like ‘wait, I don’t have to do that no more.”

The biggest difference comes in the fighting itself. Over the years, he’s had to make concessions when it comes to working in the clinch or working on anaconda chokes. Now, he’s back to doing it all, with one of those things being the biggest change.

“In an orthodox stance, shooting a double with your head in the center or to the outside – I had to completely get rid of that [before the surgery],” McGee explained.

The new and improved version of McGee is ready to use all those weapons when he faces Alex Morono. He’s got a plan for how this next chapter of his career gets goin.

“Yes, second round stoppage – TKO,” he stated confidently.

You can see that fight as part of the UFC Vegas 90 prelims. That card begins at 3pm EST on ESPN+.

You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 2:03.

The post UFC Vegas 90’s Court McGee: New Neck, New Man appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I got my neck fixed. So that’s why I’ve been out for a little while. C5 through C7 disks replaced,” McGee told reporters on Wednesday.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking. I postponed for a long time just because it’s an invasive surgery. It’s a spinal surgery. I had one fight left on my contract and I was like do I fight it out or do I get this fixed? After the Matt Brown fight I was like dude I need to get this fixed.”

McGee (21-12) fought Brown in May 2023, and took nearly a year away to recover after neck surgery.

“Post-op, like 10 minutes, I felt incredible. I’m talking like 10 minutes after I woke up post-surgery. I was like oh my gosh my neck is fixed,” he said.

“Went through therapy, did all the stuff, waited the allotted amount of time to where I could start to make contact, and increase my training.”

‘The Crusher’ even did a test fight camp in order to see how his neck would respond.

“I did kind of like a six week fight camp. Like (a) trial. Cut weight, sparring, wrestling, grappling, live stuff. Hard lifting, hard training, and I felt fantastic,” he said.

“So I called the matchmaker and was like hey I think I can fight in April. I ended up renegotiating for four more fights, and this is the first fight in my four-fight contract. He gave me an opponent in Alex Morono and I was like absolutely that’s a great fight.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Court McGee above. He takes on Alex Morono at UFC Vegas 90 on Saturday night.

The post Court McGee Details Neck Surgery Following Brown Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I always anticipate my opponents to be at their absolute best. I always expect them to be bigger and stronger than they really are so like once we’re tied up in the octagon there’s no new expectations,” Morono told reporters on Wednesday.

“He’s got more fights than me. Of everyone on the card he’s got the most UFC fights, I have the second most, I think that’s cool. Between the two of us it’s like 43 UFC fights which is awesome.”

Morono (23-9) expects a very tough fight from McGee who’s been in the UFC since 2010.

“I was surprised to get that name and very happy to fight a vet. I remember watching him on The Ultimate Fighter. I’ve watched pretty much all of his fights since and he’s a gamer,” he said.

“He’s gone the distance with a lot of really high level guys, and I’m expecting this fight to be gritty and I do expect it to go all three rounds so I’m looking to win every minute of this 15-minute fight.”

All that being said Morono is looking for a knockout finish of McGee.

“I’m always going to look for the KO. We’re going to grapple in this fight of that I can guarantee. So like a KO is a gold medal, a submission’s a silver medal, and a decision is a bronze medal,” he said.

“So I’m just looking to get that gold for sure.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Alex Morono above. He takes on Cout McGee at UFC Vegas 90 on Saturday night.

The post Alex Morono Looking For “Gold Medal” KO Of McGee appeared first on Cageside Press.

Kicking off this edition of TTP is our interview with UFC welterweight, Court McGee. He discusses his long layoff heading into his next fight and the major surgery needed to get him back in there. Now he’s never felt better and is able to train harder than before, and the divisional stalwart is putting in the work. Just one week after UFC Atlantic City, he’ll fight at UFC Vegas 90. He breaks down his fight with Alex Morono, and also shares with us a little behind the scenes info about his coaching life.

Fights, Dogs and Parlays: UFC Atlantic City (24:30)

After UFC Vegas 89, we head right into another event headlined with a hotly contested women’s flyweight fight. This one could very well decide who fights for the 125lbs belt next. Manon Fiorot looks to keep things rolling when she faces tough grappler Erin Blanchfield. Each is looking to move to 7-0 and take that step forward. We’ll give our picks for that fight as well as some of the other top fights on the card. Plus, we’ll dig into some underdog plays and a parlay for UFC Atlantic City. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Kyle Nelson Interview (32:53)

Closing out this edition of TTP is our interview with UFC lightweight, Kyle Nelson. Nelson discusses what has been behind his recent run of wins over hot UFC prospects. After going 1-4-1 in his first six fights with the organization, he finds himself a dark horse in the division. He’s turned away Blake Bilder and Fernando Padilla and now will look to upset a veteran in Bill Algeo. Those two are set to tangle at UFC Atlantic City and Nelson will give you the lowdown on his prep work for that fight and his thoughts on Algeo as an opponent.

The post TTP Ep. 422 with Court McGee, Kyle Nelson, and UFC Atlantic City appeared first on Cageside Press.

“The Immortal” was 1-3 in his last four, and coming off a loss to Bryan Barberena. McGee was coming off his own loss opposite Jeremiah Wells, and while neither were in must-win territory per se, a loss might put them there.

Right off the opening bell, McGee looked to punch his way in, looking to clinch. Brown refused to be put on the back foot, leading to a back-and-forth battle of single strikes and low kicks, with neither man willing to cede any ground.

McGee, however, would latch on with a body lock about 90 seconds in, landing a takedown and taking the back as Brown scrambled to the fence. Brown got to his feet, with McGee still hanging off him, firing knees. An extended grappling battle ensued, Brown with his back to the fence, McGee leaning on him. That finally led to a warning from the ref to get busy; Brown eventually pushed McGee off him, and they returned to center.

What had been missing to that point, luckily for Court McGee and unluckily for everyone else, was one of those patented Matt Brown elbows that had done so much damage over the years. Or really much in the way of significant strikes from “The Immortal.” That changed in a heartbeat, however, when Brown connected with a short right hand as McGee was coming in. McGee dropped instantly, and Brown turned away, having landed the walk-off KO.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!! @IAmTheImmortal | #UFCCharlotte pic.twitter.com/dgUmagrfUN

— UFC (@ufc) May 13, 2023

At 42, that’s Brown’s 16th career win by knockout. He’s also tied with Derrick Lewis for most knockouts (13) in UFC history.

Official Result: Matt Brown def. Court McGee by knockout (right hand), Round 1, 4:09

The post UFC Charlotte: Matt Brown Lands Stunning Walk-Off KO on Court McGee appeared first on Cageside Press.