All You Need to Know About Tim Means – UFC 255

Tim Means takes on Mike Perry this weekend on the main card of UFC 255. ‘The Dirty Bird’ had a few options, but when the matchmakers came to him with Perry, it was the perfect scenario. As we look ahead to this potential fight of the night, here is all you need to know about Tim Means.

18 years in the UFC

Having joined the promotion in 2012, Tim Means competes in his 23rd UFC fight when he faces Mike Perry. The UFC 255 bout will be Mean’s 45th pro-fight overall, and only his second on a pay-per-view main card.

Currently 30-12-1 in the UFC, Means has faced the top talent in the promotion. Jorge Masvidal, Neil Magny, Alex Oliver, Niko Price, and Thiago Alves amongst them. Means has 19 KO/TKO’s in his professional career.

Broke off a drug habit

Means had a rough past before getting himself on the right path. In an interview, ‘The Dirty Bird’ told the media, “Now when I walk through a grocery store, people are coming up to me, shaking my hand, asking me how I’m doing, rather than ‘Oh, dang, you’re still a drug fiend; sucks for you.’

“I hated that mentality, hated the way people looked at me and I hated the way I put myself in that life. It was my fault, and I was happy to fix that about myself.” Means concluded.

Now a true professional, Means has never gone back to his old ways.

Tim Means fought two weeks after getting shot

‘The Dirty Bird’ endures pain fighting for a living, but this time the welterweight had to deal with a gunshot wound. Means told Sherdog, “I went out partying one night with some buddies, got drunk, and winded up at a local business here. One thing led to another, walked outside a little while later and a guy winded up shooting six of us.”

Means would recount how he tried to fight after the injury. “I had gauze all shoved in my wound,” he told the media. “We didn’t have commissions then. Mixed martial arts was pretty new, so I tried to tough it out and it did not work out for me.”

Spent time in jail

Means had been taken into custody on drug-related charges. He recalled an incident that ended up changing his life for the better.

“I called home on Thanksgiving in 2008,” he said. “My nephew answered the phone and my parents stopped sugarcoating it and stopped lying and saying I was at work, and right away, my nephew asked me, ‘Hey uncle, you still in jail?.’ 

He continued, “It felt like I was poisoning the water and poisoning the younger group that looked up to me and my family. I went back, laid on my bed, and I thought, you know what, this isn’t what I want to do. I don’t want another family member sitting here.” 

Two people he could always count on

There are two people in Mean’s like that he could always count on, his mother and his coach. During his time in prison, friends and family alike would not answer his calls.

“I remember those times, and all the people that were my friends weren’t answering my call,” he said. “Tom was one of those few people that I called from jail with that collect call and he’d answer and ask me how I’m doing and tell me to keep my head up and to look forward to brighter days. And that meant everything to me.”

Means continued, “The other one was my mom. And those were the two that stuck by my side through thick and thin, and that meant everything to me for what loyalty was and how people would change in the blink of an eye if you were doing bad.”

‘The Dirty Bird’ has faced adversity his entire career but always could get back up whenever he got knocked down. Means returns to the Octagon in what should be a ‘violent’ fight of the night performance against Mike Perry.

Read: Mike Perry Finally Finds an Opponent – Set to Return at UFC 255