LAS VEGAS – Tresean Gore wants to make those around him proud. That’s why he apologized after he cussed at a UFC Fight Night 213 news conference Wednesday.
“F*ck the naysayers,” Gore told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “Excuse my language. I shouldn’t be cussing. I don’t want my son to see this and copy what I’m saying. But forget the naysayers, man.”
Being a good example is why Gore (3-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) broke down in tears at multiple points during his interview. Gore is a “TUF 29” runner-up who has gone 0-2 in the UFC thus far with one decision defeat and one knockout loss. He said his family cried after his losses and he doesn’t want to repeat that if he can help it.
“My wife and my son deserve to be great,” Gore said. “I feel like they deserve to. When I fight, they fight. When I lost, all my siblings cried, so it’s like, I’m not trying to put them through that. This sh*t is dangerous what we do.”
Gore, 28, grew up in Little River, S.C., a small town with a population of a little over 9,000 people. According to Gore, he was surrounded by drugs and poverty in an environment he referred to as a “ghetto.”
There’s a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from overcoming the odds and being the small-town kid who made it big. There’s also a deep yearning to not let his roster spot disappear.
“The fact that I’m here, holding this microphone, talking to you and I’ve got all these big cameras in my face is crazy,” Gore said. “It’s crazy. I’m just grateful to be here. Taking those losses made me grateful. They made me more grateful. They made me realize I don’t have to be here but I’m here. I get to shine and I get to chase my dreams on the main card. I just feel honored and I’m just ready to go in there and back up my words and be somebody – be great.”
Gore said he’s wanted to be someone special for as long as he can remember. Being a UFC fighter is a big accomplishment, though he wants more than simple participation. Gore admits it’s a lot to juggle. There’s trolls to deal with and sacrifices to make.
He recently moved to Dallas to train under coach Sayif Saud at Fortis MMA. He lived at his brother’s apartment and slept on a blowup mattress. The absence of his wife and son hit the hardest, but Gore thinks it was for the betterment of their futures.
“I just have a lot on my mind because I still want to be champion of the world,” Gore said. “I still want to be champion of the world, but it doesn’t just get given to you. It takes sacrifice. It takes taking losses sometimes, when you don’t want to lose. All I have to do is just learn from my mistakes and move forward. That’s all I can do.”
Gore strives to make his wife proud and his son, too, as he continually reiterated throughout his media session. He strives to ensure his siblings don’t cry after his UFC Fight Night 213 bout vs. Josh Fremd (9-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) – and to make his parents proud; his mother is recovering from a leg amputation, and his father is imprisoned.
“People don’t understand the things you go through as a fighter outside of this,” Gore said. “I feel motivated to go be somebody and get my mom in the best rehab facility in the world because I don’t want her to die. … I just want to go in there and shine and be somebody great.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 213.
