Dalby opens up about fight with depression

Danish fighter Nicholas Dalby won 13 fights in a row, winning and defending the CWFC welterweight title. He signed with the UFC in 2015, winning a Split Decision vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in his debut. Next fight was a Majority Draw vs. Darren Till; that won Fight of the Night. The next year he fought twice, losing Unanimous Decisions to Zak Cummings and Peter Sobotta. Dalby’s last fight was September 3, 2016.

Now the fighter has bravely opened up about the struggle with depression and alcohol that kept him from the sport for a year and half.

“It’s something we all do,” he began on his social network. “We fight bullies at school. We fight to earn a living. We fight through sickness (mental & physical). We fight our inner demons. We fight with our significant others, friends, and family. We fight for the rights we believe in. We all fight our own fights, small and big ones. Every single day!

“For me, some of my biggest fights are coming up, literally and figuratively. Literally, because I have committed to step foot in a cage to fight again after 1½ years away from the sport, after something that ended in me suffering two defeats in a row, the first ones in over ten years of competitive fighting. But also figuratively. Figuratively because I have been battling a deep depression which resulted in alcoholism, apathy, and hurtful behavior towards the people I hold the dearest. Experiencing all of that and putting it behind me has been a very bumpy detour away from and back to the main road that leads in the right direction.

“How do you come back after a downfall like that? Can you imagine the self-doubt? Can my body still handle a grueling fight camp? Is my mind strong enough to handle the sessions where nothing is working, doubt sneaks in, and the lingering injuries that undoubtedly lie ahead play with your head? Am I strong enough physically & mentally to not just take the fight but to actually go in there and unleash the hell & fury I have in me when I believe in myself and I’m running on all cylinders (plus nitro)?

“Those are the questions that will get answered before summer arrives. Maybe I’ll get a major injury in the lead up to the fight. Maybe things won’t click when I’m finally in the cage. Maybe I will lose the fight. But there’s only one way to find out.

“And that’s by f***ing doing it!

“And doing it 110%! This is a fight to determine my future. Now is the time to prove to myself, my girlfriend, my friends, my family, and the rest of the world what I’m made of. That I am going to follow up to the promises I made myself. And that is the real fight. If I do that, do the very best I can. Then I will win the fight in the cage. And the fight for my life!”

Dalby will return to mixed martial arts on April 28 at Cage Warriors 93 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The event will stream live on UFC Fight Pass.