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Heavyweight Tyrell Fortune rose through the professional MMA ranks roughly a decade ago. It took until Saturday for him to secure his first UFC victory, though it did not come without drama.
Fourteen years after being pronounced dead during a weight cut, Fortune now also adds a UFC win to his comeback.
Fortune initially beat Marcin Tybura by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night, receiving judges scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. However, cage announcer Bruce Buffer caused confusion by reading the scores incorrectly, announcing totals that favored Fortune’s opponent.
The error went unnoticed until Fortune had exited the octagon and headed toward the tunnel. Officials brought him back, where he was officially declared the winner.
“I was so upset with myself,” Fortune said as he evaluated his performance. “I felt I didn’t do enough. I was just upset. With two weeks’ notice, I feel like I did a good job, but I also need to come with a better performance next time.”
The former NCAA Division II wrestling champion’s path to Saturday’s victory includes a 2012 weight-cut incident that left him pronounced dead before he made a full recovery.
He recalled the experience, saying it still doesn’t feel real years later. “I tried to forget about it for so long … because it seemed so far-fetched. Like, “Man. I died. Everything was over for a second, and I came back to life,'” Fortune told ESPN.
“And it really changed my perspective of life in general and how I view just living life on a day-to-day basis. When you’re in a situation like that, you really start to look at your values as a person, and you see what’s important to you, because it was all self-inflicted.”
“It was just after my junior-college season, and I wasn’t a big heavyweight. I averaged around 220, 230 pounds. That’s in the middle of two weight categories. International weight classes are 211 and 265 pounds. I’m at 230. I’m like, ‘I can either give up this 30 to 40 pounds, or I can cut weight and be bigger than everybody at 211.’ So that’s what led to the decision to cut weight.”
Fortune stepped in to fight Tybura on Saturday on two weeks’ notice after an injury withdrawal.
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