Court McGee lost the last fight of his career on Saturday, and one of the first things he did afterward was ask the guy who beat him if he’d be up for a conversation. McGee was the final guest on Ariel Helwani’s live show Tuesday, and he explained why he walked out of UFC 332 feeling good for Eric Nolan.
“Even with the loss, I reached out to Eric afterward and asked if he’d be willing to chat... I was genuinely happy for him,” McGee said.
The reasoning came from his own history. McGee told Helwani he had peace of mind knowing Nolan gets another opportunity after dedicating his life to the sport, because he’d been in that exact spot himself. “I remember my first two-fight losing streak and that feeling after winning, like, ‘OK, the dream’s still going. I still got it.’”
View post on X
That’s precisely where Nolan was. He came into Salt Lake City on a two-fight skid and left with his first win since May 2025, moving to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the UFC, according to MMA Junkie’s post-event numbers. McGee opened the card at the Delta Center on Oct. 3 and retires at 22-15 overall, 11-14 in the UFC. Sportskeeda described the loss as a brutal knockout, and MMA Junkie noted that all four of McGee’s career stoppage defeats have come by knockout.
Going out at home
McGee sounded like a man with zero unfinished business. “I feel great today. I feel retired, and I’m ok with being retired,” he told Helwani. He said he was grateful to retire in Salt Lake City, called the outcome ideal for multiple reasons, and said he feels fulfilled. Sherdog built its story around another line from his post-fight reflections: “OK is good enough for me.”
View post on X
He hasn’t rewatched the fight yet. He doesn’t need to. McGee said he still remembers it, ups and downs included, and that he’s proud to hang it up after a battle like that. “I could not ask for more.”
On X, he did the math for everyone: 16 years and 29 fights in the UFC, counting his time in the Ultimate Fighter house. In a separate post, he called Nolan “a fierce competitor and honorable in victory.” Kelvin Gastelum replied that he’d been following McGee’s career since TUF 11, and Matt Mitrione and referee Marc Goddard were among those who chimed in with congratulations.
MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew went a step further in the site’s UFC 332 roundtable, naming McGee the biggest winner of the night despite the result. Meshew pointed to McGee having been clinically deceased for eight minutes at one point in his life, noted the UFC ran a video package for him in his home state, and wrote that nobody in the sport has a bad thing to say about him.
View post on X
UFC 332 broke the single-event record with 11 knockouts and set a company mark with 16 knockdowns, and the fight that started all of it ended a career. Plenty of guys lose their farewell and spend the post-fight presser picking apart the stoppage or the judges. McGee lost his and spent it texting the winner to say congrats, then told the world he was ok with being retired. Nolan, a fighter who needed that win badly, got his hand raised against a guy who seemed to want it for him almost as much.
