Mark O. Madsen’s Greatest Comeback

That feeling isn’t generated from the fact that he’s finally healthy after suffering a broken jaw at UFC 248, or from recovering from COVID-19 or a tough training camp. Madsen seriously started doubting that he’d ever return to competitive MMA when his wife Maria was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The news came as a shock to the Madsen family and changed their lives forever.

“I’ll be honest and say there were times that it didn’t look good,” Madsen told UFC.com. “There’s been times where I was in a dark place, and I was having doubts and I couldn’t see a way back and I couldn’t see the necessary steps that I needed to take to get back into the fight.”

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But Madsen decided that one of the ways that he could best support his wife and his family was to return to competition and set an example of how determination can overcome adversity.

“A lot of this is actually about showing my wife that we won’t let disease and we won’t let adversity determine anything in our life,” Madsen said. “We won’t let it determine our dreams, what dreams we should be focusing on or what dreams we should be chasing. Even with MS, we still have all the cards on the table, and this is really about showing my wife that we can still fight, we are still in the game.”

"A lot of this is actually about showing my wife that we won't let disease, we won't adversity determine anything in our life."@MarkTheOlympian discusses how he sees overcoming hardship and fighting as a way to motivate his wife who has MS. #UFCVegas34 🔊⬆️ pic.twitter.com/VKT8WBCNwD

— UFC News (@UFCNews) August 18, 2021

It's impossible not to admire Madsen’s mindset and feel inspired as he describes what he’s hoping to accomplish outside the Octagon. With his wife’s diagnosis came a switch in priorities and a heightened sense of gratitude for the simple things.

And for that reason, Madsen believes that he’s already won. Everything else is just going to be icing on the cake.

“I have no simple answer on how we made it through. This is fight business, this is the UFC, this is the best promotion in the world, this is the best fighters in the world,” Madsen said. “We talk a lot about a champion’s mindset, and we talk a lot about winning. I do believe even for me as a three-time Olympian and Olympic medalist and a five-time world medalist in wrestling, I do believe the adversity you meet when it comes to disease is a different kind of adversity. We have had to dig deep, we’ve had to reevaluate our life and what we prioritize and, in that light, I’m so happy I’m back right here right now.

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“A part of what I’m saying about being proud and thankful for being back here is really about the struggle and the fight that we had to put in before the actual fight. I’m coming into this fight with an amazing feeling of gratitude and also achievement. I’ve been in elite sports my entire life but this feels like the single biggest comeback of my entire career. There’s no doubt in my mind and I’m so proud.”

Reevaluating life means finding out how to best treat the symptoms that come with MS, learning more about the disease, as well as figuring out the best way to spend time and energy to create the best possible environment for his wife. As an elite competitor, Madsen enters fight week focused on Guida and using everything he’s been feeling as motivation.