Tag: Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera

10 MMA Fighters Who Cheated Death Outside The Cage

MMA fighters are used to living life on the edge, knowing that every time they set foot in the cage they risk getting injured, knocked out or choked unconscious. However, some of these battle-hardened warriors have gone far beyond that in their personal lives outside of the cage, finding themselves in truly terrifying situations where […]

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MMA fighters are used to living life on the edge, knowing that every time they set foot in the cage they risk getting injured, knocked out or choked unconscious.

However, some of these battle-hardened warriors have gone far beyond that in their personal lives outside of the cage, finding themselves in truly terrifying situations where they have stared death straight in the face and yet somehow lived to tell the tale.

In this article we’ll explore 10 such stories, from near-fatal accidents to deadly altercations, not to mention several alarming incidents where it’s the fighters themselves who have been their own worst enemies.

Court McGee

Before he became an MMA fighter, Court McGee enjoyed drinking alcohol far too much for his own good.

It was a problem that got worse during his college years, but things really started to get out of hand when he broke his collarbone and clavicle in 2003 and then began mixing painkillers with the booze.

Over the next two years McGee would fall deeper into addiction, moving on to snorting crushed up Oxycontin, then cocaine, before finally turning to heroin as life began to completely fall apart.

One September 9th, 2005, McGee’s self-destructive behavior caught up with him and he overdosed on heroin, falling limp to the floor in the bathroom of his cousin’s trailer.

When paramedic’s arrived on scene they frantically tried to resuscitate McGee, whose heart would stop beating for eight minutes in total. It was only when an officer found a syringe that they realized he’d overdosed and were able to take the appropriate steps to bring him back to life.

Afterwards, McGee would spend six days in a coma and then had to undergo extensive rehabilitation to re-learn basic motor skills like walking.

Remarkably, just five months later McGee would relapse, emerging after a four-day binge with no pants on looking for a place to score meth.

That was the final straw and McGee sobered up soon after, got into recovery and found a sense of purpose in mixed martial arts, which would eventually lead to him fighting in the UFC, where he remains to this day.

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Arona Says He Rejected Strikeforce Offer and That He’s Targeting an Early 2012 Return…For Real


(Arona’s finally ready to put down the surfboard.)

Ricardo Arona has been pledging a return to action pretty much every year since his last bout in 2009 against Marvin Eastman at Bitetti Combat 4, but has failed to deliver on the promise. According to the former Rings middleweight champion and former PRIDE standout, by “this year” he actually meant “next year,” meaning 2012. If the world doesn’t end like some whack jobs believe it will, Arona says we can expect to see him make his triumphant return.

In an interview he did recently with Globo, “The Brazilian Tiger” says the reason he’s had to push back his MMA return was that life got in the way, but that he’s had no shortage of offers from promotions.

“I went back to prepare myself physically and to finish building a training center in my house in Niterói. It’s pretty big and full. I want to return early next year. First I want to be ready to compete in anything, God willing,” Arona explains. “My goal is to do that, no doubt. I received an invitation from Strikeforce and several national events, but did not close anything. I’m hoping to be ready to return.”


(Arona’s finally ready to put down the surfboard.)

Ricardo Arona has been pledging a return to action pretty much every year since his last bout in 2009 against Marvin Eastman at Bitetti Combat 4, but has failed to deliver on the promise. According to the former Rings middleweight champion and former PRIDE standout, by “this year” he actually meant “next year,” meaning 2012. If the world doesn’t end like some whack jobs believe it will, Arona says we can expect to see him make his triumphant return.

In an interview he did recently with Globo, “The Brazilian Tiger” says the reason he’s had to push back his MMA return was that life got in the way, but that he’s had no shortage of offers from promotions.

“I went back to prepare myself physically and to finish building a training center in my house in Niterói. It’s pretty big and full. I want to return early next year. First I want to be ready to compete in anything, God willing,” Arona explains. “My goal is to do that, no doubt. I received an invitation from Strikeforce and several national events, but did not close anything. I’m hoping to be ready to return.”

I bet he’s kicking himself for not taking the Strikeforce offer now that the promotion is owned by Zuffa. Although he didn’t mention if he’s had any further discussions with the UFC, tou would think that would be something he’d mention if it was happening. Whatever the case, Arona pegs his return date somewhere around February or March if all goes well with the final preparations of his gym.

“My Training Center is almost ready. It has a huge mat space. I put a ring, functional training room, weight room, physiotherapy room. The place is great. It should be ready in no more than two months and after that with three months of training I’ll be ready for everything,” he estimates. “I will form a team. After putting the team together we will structure it with good coaches. But I still have no names of teachers. I will invite a bunch of coaches to join the team.”

If you had a keen eye during the UFC 134 broadcast, you may have noticed that Arona was part of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s entourage during his walkout for his fight with Brendan Schaub. A longtime friend of “Minotauro” since before both of them fought for PRIDE, he says that Nogueira’s bout was the one he looked forward to most on the card.

“Minotauro was 100% ready for the UFC Rio show and he entered the event with lots of preparation,” he says. “It was the most anticipated fight for me.”

Injecting Arona into the UFC’s light heavyweight division could add some intrigue, or if he isn’t prepared because of years of inactivity, it could mean the end of another PRIDE star’s career. Let’s hope it’s the former.