Mark O. Madsen made the full-time commitment to mixed martial arts following an ultra-successful career on the wrestling mats, where he represented his home nation of Denmark in the Olympics three times, earning a silver medal in the Greco-Roman wrestling 75kg division in 2016.

He was 33 years old, transitioning to an entirely new sport at an age when the majority of competitors are either clinging to the last days of their prime or already beginning to show signs of decline.

But he approached the shift with the same kind of single-minded determination that carried him to a tremendous amount of success in the international wrestling world, and less than two years after redirecting his intense focus to mixed martial arts, he was competing on the biggest stage in the sport, carrying an 8-0 record into his UFC debut — a co-main event clash with Danilo Belluardo in his hometown of Copenhagen.

The fight lasted 72 seconds, the crowd at Royal Arena erupting as the national athletic standout known as “The Olympian” secured a dominant stoppage victory in what he later called the pinnacle of his athletic career.

He returned to action a little over five months later, competing in Las Vegas for the first time against Austin Hubbard in a preliminary card bout at UFC 248, the final Pay-Per-View before the global coronavirus pandemic pressed pause on the sporting world. Madsen grinded out a victory, starting strong and holding on down the stretch against the durable, gritty American, pushing his record to 10-0 and putting him on track for another step up in competition next time out.

“A lot has happened since our last conversation,” Madsen told me earlier in the month, as we reconnected for the first time since ahead of his fight with Hubbard.

I reached out because after nearly 18 months on the sidelines, the now 36-year-old is set to return this weekend, squaring off with veteran Clay Guida at UFC Fight Night Saturday in the next stern test in a never-ending series of more difficult challenges.

As it turns out, Madsen has been faced with far greater problems.

“I won the fight, but unfortunately I broke my jaw,” he said of his fight with Hubbard in March 2020. “I had to go through a surgery, which led to a rather serious infection in the titanium plate that they put in to re-connect my jaw, which led to another surgery. When I thought everything was good and I was heading back to MMA, I tested positive for COVID-19.

“I had to deal with that and as I came out of that, we got the very sad news that my wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS),” continued Madsen, whose wife, Maria, has been all-in with him every step of this mixed martial arts journey, each of them walking away from steady, stable jobs in order to pursue this latest athletic challenge.

“We had known for a couple months that there was something going on with her body and with her health, but it was a long process. It was a process that started right after my fight against Austin Hubbard, but it was in November that we got the final diagnosis from the hospital and the doctor.”

Madsen was in Las Vegas when his wife got the news, having traveled to the U.S. fight hub in order to train with fellow lightweight hopeful Nasrat Haqparast and make use of the UFC Performance Institute.

“My wife called me and I could hear in her voice,” he began, his voice trailing off, the memory of that call obviously, understandably still carrying serious weight. “She called me and I told her, ‘I’m going to come home right now,’ and to be honest, when I flew back from Vegas, I had no idea whether I was ever going to fight again.”

Once home, the Madsens shifted their focus to learning everything they could about the disease — the symptoms and potential challenges; about treatments and ways to live with this new reality — and in February, Maria Madsen started on medication that will help her deal with the chronic disease that will be a part of her life henceforth.

Before that positive turn, however, there was one more blow the family would be forced to deal with.

“In January,” began Madsen, laughing as he started to relay the last twist in his road back to the Octagon, “we discovered a water leak in our house, which led to our family having to be relocated because there was very serious black mold infestation in our house.”

The family was moved out in thirds as the floors and roof and ultimately every piece of wood in the building was torn from its position in need of being replaced.

“It’s a complete re-build of a house,” added the unbeaten and undeterred lightweight. “It has been a challenge to say the least.

“It’s like if you have a bag filled with everything you value in life — everything is in place, you believe you have everything figured out — and then you get hit by something that will make you re-evaluate everything and challenge you in terms of the way you’re spending your time, the way value things, what you believe in.

“It’s been a ride.”

One of the things that has always helped propel Madsen forward has been his knowledge that no matter what challenges were put in front of him, he would always figure out how to get things back on track. This was different.

For the first time in his life, the man that was always able to push through, certain that a clearing would materialize and the path forward would present itself couldn’t see a way forward. The problems and challenges kept coming and the relentless wrestler was at a loss, unsure of his next step.

So, his wife showed him the way forward.

“This fight is for her,” Madsen began. “One of the things that she has been really afraid of was that the disease would come in the way of achieving our goals in MMA, would put an end to my dream in MMA and being able to achieve what we set out to do.

“I’ve been in major tournaments in my life — I’ve won and I’ve lost — and I believe life is about overcoming, because we all get hit by something eventually. I don’t believe in folding. I don’t believe in quitting. The worst thing that could have happened here was if MS would have been the cause of me quitting MMA, retiring from MMA.”

After deciding against walking away, the family signed on with a company to rebuild their home in Denmark.

A week later, Madsen’s manager called asking if he was ready to take a fight.

The day after he signed his contract to face Guida, he was on a plane to Las Vegas, hustling back to the States to get set up for a training camp before his Visa expired. 

The plan was to kick the tires on a couple different gyms before choosing one and sending for his family to join him for the first couple months of camp, but he was quickly sold on making the trip to Scottsdale, Az, to prepare at Fight Ready by long-time friend Eric Albarracin, whom Madsen knew from their days at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and who is now one of the top head coaches in mixed martial arts.

Boasting an impressive collection of fighters and coaches, and the unwavering support of team owner Dave Zowine, the Arizona outfit has quickly become one of the top gyms in the sport and a destination for athletes looking to level up.

“The learning curve has been very, very steep,” Madsen said of working with a new team and learning new systems. “But I feel like I’ve improved in a lot of different areas in my MMA game and to be honest, I think going down this road, with these people, I think I have the potential to beat the best fighters in the world.”

The first chance to test that hypothesis comes this weekend, when he and Guida serves as the penultimate pairing on the UFC’s return to action following a one-week respite.

Though close in age — Madsen is 36, Guida is 39 — there is a tremendous gap between the two in terms of experience, as the popular fan favorite Guida has 36 wins in 56 career appearances, with more than half of those fights taking place inside the Octagon.

While Guida has shared the cage with former champions and countless contenders, luminaries and legends, “The Carpenter” represents the most established and experienced fighter Madsen has faced in his brief career, and the ambitious UFC neophyte is thrilled to tackle this latest challenge.

“What are the odds, right?” Madsen asked rhetorically, marveling at where the winding road of the last year has left him. “My third year of full commitment to MMA, we had to deal with a lot of stuff that I didn’t plan for, that I didn’t choose, but it was put on my plate, it was put on my table, and I had to deal with it, and now I’m facing a UFC legend.

“This is what I’m all about and this is why I signed with the UFC. This is where I want to be, and facing a guy like Clay will definitely be the biggest fight of my career, my biggest test. It’s an honor fighting a guy like Clay Guida. He’s one of the guys I watched on television before I even had an idea of moving into MMA.

“I get goosebumps (talking about it),” he added. “If we can dream it, we can do it. It’s been an amazing ride and I believe every fight is going to be the biggest fight of my career because we’re taking leaps here. It’s been — let’s call it a journey, an adventure, and I’m all about it.”

Healthy and having dealt with the various hurdles that have been placed in front of him since he last made the walk to the Octagon, the ultra-competitive life-long athlete with designs on reaching the summit of a second sport is eager to step back into the cage, handle his business, and end his journey with the biggest victory of his mixed martial arts career.

“Right now, the only thing I’m visualizing is closing the distance and taking Clay Guida’s head off; that’s the only thing in envisioning,” said Madsen. “He’s a legend and when you’re fighting legends, you better bring your best.

“He deserves my best performance and that’s what I’m looking for and visualizing. I’m looking to go out there and put on my best performance.”