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Means, 37, will lock horns with former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Nicolas Dalby in a three-round UFC Fight Night 190 welterweight feature on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “The Dirty Bird” enters the cage on the strength of back-to-back victories. Means last appeared at UFC 255 on Nov. 21, when he took a unanimous decision from Mike Perry. He has delivered 24 of his 31 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
As Means prepares for his confrontation with Dalby, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. Small-town roots gave way to his rise.
“The Dirty Bird” was born in Wilburton, Oklahoma, a city of less than 3,000 people located 130 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
2. He persevered through life-altering adversity.
Means survived a near-fatal shooting at an Albuquerque, New Mexico, fast food restaurant in 2004. The bullet pierced his femoral artery, and he almost bled to death as a result. Ensuing issues with prescription drugs and eventually those of the recreational variety led to his being incarcerated for three years and put a pause on his mixed martial arts career between March 26, 2005 and Feb. 28, 2009.
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3. His exploits yielded significant rewards on the regional scene.
The Fit NHB and Power MMA representative became a two-division champion in the King of the Cage promotion. Means captured the KOTC junior welterweight title with a second-round technical knockout of Bobby Green in October 2010, then laid claim to the KOTC lightweight crown with a first-round TKO of Tye Brown in January 2012.
4. He has shown a propensity for quick-strike violence.
Means’ resume features 16 first-round finishes, four of them inside one minute. He put away Matt Green with punches nine seconds into their King of the Cage “New Breed” pairing on March 7, 2009, knocked out Matt Butterfield with a knee strike four seconds into their encounter at King of the Cage “El Lobo” on May 23, 2009, submitted John Cronk with a rear-naked choke 46 seconds into their clash at King of the Cage “Horsepower” on Nov. 28, 2009 and brought down the aforementioned Brown with punches 30 seconds into their King of the Cage “Total Destruction” main event on Jan. 21, 2012.
5. He thrives on proving others wrong.
Means was released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2013 after he missed weight prior to a unanimous decision loss to Danny Castillo at UFC on Fox 8. He signed with the Legacy Fighting Championship organization, recorded a pair of first-round stoppage victories within a four-month window, then returned to the UFC as a short-notice replacement for William Macario in May 2014. Means has been with the organization ever since.