Back when Court McGee was preparing to face Kris McCray for The Ultimate Fighter 11 title, his team brought in Ben Saunders to help train him.
Now, six-plus years later, McGee will lock horns with Saunders Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 103 in a featured bout from Phoenix.
“We trained almost every day that we were there,” McGee said in an interview with MMAjunkie. “We grappled. We did wrestling. We did all the things were doing (at the gym) – sparring, drilling and bag work, grappling at night, conditioning. We went on some runs.
“We just had mutual respect. We’re both just martial artists. We were both in about the same time of our career at that time, as we are now.”
McGee would go on to win the title on TUF and is 7-4 over 11 UFC appearances, sporting a career record of 18-5. Saunders is also 7-4 with the UFC over multiple stints and 20-7 overall.
“I’ve followed his career (since we trained together),” McGee said. “I think we both have respect. I have tremendous respect for anybody I compete against.”
