Court McGee and Alex Pereira: Battled Addiction and Came Back Stronger

MMA and Addiction: Can You Come Back Stronger?

It’s undeniable that addiction affects people from all walks of life, including those in elite sports. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is demanding, physically and psychologically, and as shown in the stories below, it’s this, in particular, that has helped MMA fighters overcome addiction.

Addiction in the World of MMA

What’s interesting about fighters is that as well as background environmental influences posing a risk factor for addiction, there are risks associated with fame, pressure, and also injuries and potential prescriptions. Even for the professional athlete with the world at their fingertips, an addiction can severely impact their life and career.

Stories of Recovery: Court McGee

Career background and achievements

Court McGee is a mixed martial artist from Utah, America. At age 6, he started training in karate. At high school he was a wrestler, going on to become one of the top wrestlers in the state. In later years, he trained in boxing and Jiu Jitsu.

Since 2010, he’s fought in the UFC’s Welterweight division. He won season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter and holds a Utah state light heavyweight title.

How addiction entered his life

When talking about his life, Court McGee makes it very clear that he was well-raised by supportive parents. He’s from a middle-class, Mormon community, and though his family aren’t Mormon, there was a strong religious influence.

In middle-school, McGee admits to having experimented with alcohol. His use escalated at high school where he was also getting into fights with other kids. This led him to trying wrestling where he became one of the top wrestlers in the state. 

In his early 20s, he was already experiencing alcohol shakes. However, he sustained an injury and needed surgery during the height of oxycontin prescriptions.  After graduation he was also in a car accident where he shattered a collarbone and was prescribed oxycontin. A friend advised he snort it as it “hits better” and McGee realised he could get a buzz without smelling like alcohol.

McGee’s alcohol and drug use progressed to Xanax and cocaine, the latter of which he used to help him get up for work. He lost control of his finances, lost his job and had nowhere to live for, so moved into cousin’s trailer. Soon after, McGee was introduced to heroin and within a couple of months, overdosed. 

The breaking point

The night McGee overdosed, he fell between a door and a toilet. In the next room, a girl heard that his breathing had slowed but didn’t know he was a drug user. His cousin, who was in recovery, walked in. They called 911. He was given 16 minutes of chest compressions by paramedics that kept him alive until they got him to hospital. 

An undercover narcotics officer was called. He found a syringe in the caravan. He then called the hospital telling them McGee needed Naloxone to reverse the effects of heroin. He was extremely close to death.

Steps to recovery: seeking help 

It was a licensed clinical social worker, a man who’d been in recovery himself and was 20 years sober from heroin, who spoke to McGee while he was in hospital. Before this point, McGee had wanted to stop using, but simply couldn’t stay stopped.

At this point, McGee had 4 DUI felonies, enough to go to prison for 12 years, for drug charges, inciting a riot, criminal mischief, and fraud. 

The social worker was someone McGee could relate to and he decided to listen to him. This was when he decided to go for drug treatment and 12 step meetings. After 5 months sober, he relapsed with an ex who was also in recovery. 

McGee, however, got sober again and when he applied for a plumbing job, was very honest about his life and luckily, his employer, was supportive as was his drug court liaison office. Quickly, McGee ended up on a programme for men recently out of state penitentiary where he was an active participant.

Soon, he’d also reunited with his high school sweetheart and they had a baby on way.

Comeback: return to MMA and life lessons

McGee worked for a man who introduced him to a local gym. There he trained in various martial arts and was able to exchange teaching wrestling for learning Jiu Jitsu. He also taught wrestling at a local high school. After a year of sobriety, Mcgee had his first fight and the rest is history.

McGee’s involved in anti-drug campaigns and set up Hope 361 which helps people in recovery. 

Stories of Recovery: Alex Pereira

Career background and achievements

Alex Pereira is a mixed martial artist. He comes from a pro kickboxing background and is highly-esteemed for his hard-hitting strike. As a kickboxer, he was a GLORY middleweight and light heavyweight champion. He was also a UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion.

How addiction entered his life

Pereira became an alcoholic at an early age drinking large quantities of cachaca, a Brazilian sugarcane spirit, daily. This was linked to working at a car repair shop where everyone drank.

When his brother died due to drugs at 17, Pereira’s drinking increased. At the mere age of 18, he started wondering how to stop. He knew sports could help, so started kickboxing. He trained to help himself quit drinking. He tried for 4 years.

His addiction escalated to the point where he was taking payment for his work in the form of drinks. This struggle with alcohol continued for years, even as his kickboxing career began.  

The breaking point

It was a fight with Jason Wilnis in 2012, when Pereira was knocked down, that served as a catalyst for him to quit drinking. He felt scared in the fight. In round 2, he was knocked down, he got back to his feet with 18 secs left of the round. At that point he knew he needed to stop drinking or his life would fall apart.

He was drinking 1 litre a day when his early trainer, Belocqua Wera, saw how fragile he was. He pushed him hard and could see that Pereira was a “warrior but contaminated” (by alcohol).

Steps to recovery and comeback

Eventually, Pereira tried to quit drinking to avoid his life falling apart, reaching a turning point in 2012 when undertaking an alcohol home detox. 

With help from his trainer, Wera, he was guided towards connecting to his ancestors. This helped him connect to the jaguar fighting style from his indigenous roots.

When he quit alcohol, the money started coming in and he started winning more fights. He was able to quit because he’d found something he really wanted to do.

What do these fighters’ stories have in common?

These two fighters are men who, despite all of their knockbacks, were survivors. They always had the drive and fight to survive.  At the point they were ready to quit, they found a significant person to connect with who helped guide their training and support a sober lifestyle. 

Community and connection supports recovery and they leaned into this. They also used training and the desire to win to fuel their recovery.

Hope in Recovery

If you’re in recovery or supporting someone who is, take these fighters’ lessons; connect with someone and use training, or something you really want to do, as a driver towards sobriety. Some might also connect to a higher power (for Pereira, this was his ancestors). 

Remember, recovery is possible and it’s often the darkest of times that turns the journey around. It’s so important to seek help and in the first instance, contacting treatment services brings a wealth of guidance.

Final thoughts

Reading about McGee’s and Pereira’s recovery journeys emphasises both their strength and perseverance. It’s impossible not to feel inspired when seeing the depth of their addiction and how hard they worked to achieve success in life as well as in sobriety.

As a society, it’s so important to break the stigma attached to addiction. By connecting sobriety with sports, there’s huge potential to facilitate more healing success stories and to break the taboo of addiction.