“I knew I made the right decision,” he said, thinking back to that moment. “From that moment on, I told myself that I was going to become the professional athlete that my sons can look up to, but also, it is what it is.
“When it’s time to get serious, I need to get serious, but also, don’t be too hard on yourself,” he added. “Have fun with it. Be helpful to others.”
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What’s really interesting is that while McGee heads into this fight with Wells in the best form he’s shown in several years, with the potential of replicating the longest winning streak of his UFC career a dozen years after kicking off the first such instance, he’s also been spending some time thinking about retirement.
Saturday night isn’t going to be McGee’s swan song, but the mindful competitor is quick to admit that when to walk away and how he’d like to do it has been something he’s thought about throughout his career. What once used to make him nervous is now a subject he’s extremely comfortable discussing, because he’s able to put it all into perspective, and look at himself as so much more than a professional fighter.
“I want to compete to compete, not just for the paycheck,” said McGee. “When I hang it up, I want to hang it up on my own terms.
“I’ve thought about those things off and on my entire career, but now I’m at a point where I have the gym, I have supplemented income, I do the speaking and I could do sponsorship stuff, but I still have the desire to compete at the highest level in the world, and I still feel like I’m getting better.
“I’m not scared to talk about it, either,” he added. “I know it’s inevitable, but I also know it’s not the end of the world. I’m not taking any of the experiences I get to have right now for granted, same with the experiences and information that I get to pass on to the next generation coming up