Court McGee will bring an MMA career spanning almost 20 years to an end after facing Eric Nolan in a welterweight bout at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City. The 41-year-old former winner of The Ultimate Fighter said the Utah appearance will be his final professional fight, with health and family central to his decision.
McGee enters the contest with a professional record of 22 wins and 14 defeats, including 11 wins and 13 losses during his UFC career. His farewell takes place in his home state, near both the area where he grew up and where he now lives, providing what he described to MMA Junkie as a particularly fitting location to conclude his time as an active fighter.
The retirement will not take effect until after the Nolan bout. McGee said he currently feels healthy and has made the decision with people close to him, rather than because he is unable to compete.
McGee had expected his UFC contract to be his last
McGee said retirement had been on his mind for several years. When he signed his most recent four-fight UFC agreement a couple of years ago, he said he already viewed it as his final contract with the promotion.
That outlook had briefly appeared uncertain when he suffered a neck injury. McGee told MMA Junkie that he had thought he might have to leave a remaining fight unfulfilled before returning to compete after neck surgery. He fought Alex Morono in 2024 after that operation and said he had subsequently felt better than he had for years.
His final opponent, Nolan, has an 8-5 professional MMA record and is 0-2 in the UFC, according to the report. The bout therefore gives McGee one more opportunity to compete under the UFC banner before completing the contract he had long regarded as the endpoint of his fighting career.
McGee won season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter in 2010, a result that preceded his lengthy UFC run. His 24 UFC bouts show the scale of a career that has continued well beyond that tournament victory, while the Salt Lake City contest will be his last professional appearance.
Health and life beyond competition shaped the call
McGee said preserving his wellbeing was his foremost concern. He estimated that he has undergone 17 or 18 major operations, including the neck surgery before the Morono fight, and said he did not want to continue competing simply because fighting remained financially worthwhile.
Instead, he said he wants to finish while feeling physically well and mentally sharp. McGee said he has three children, is married and runs a gym, all of which informed a decision to prioritise life after active competition. He acknowledged that he is still healthy, but said that condition was a reason to stop rather than to seek another contract.
McGee said he had reached the decision alongside those close to him and felt at peace with it. His account framed the final fight as the completion of a conclusion he had already anticipated when he signed the four-fight agreement, rather than a change of course prompted by his current physical condition. He said his priority was to retain his health after his competitive career ends.
The local setting adds personal significance without changing the sporting task in front of him. McGee said UFC 332 is approximately 30 minutes from where he grew up and about 45 minutes from his current home. For a fighter who had anticipated the end of his UFC deal, the chance to complete it in Utah offers a natural final stage.
McGee will therefore enter the Nolan fight as an active competitor, not a retired fighter making a ceremonial appearance. But its outcome will close a professional record built across nearly two decades, from his 2010 The Ultimate Fighter win to a final UFC bout in his home state.