Andre
Petroski has already won his biggest fight in life outside the
Octagon.
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Petroski recently shared intimate details about his long battle
with drugs. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight was introduced to
opioids as a teenager by his neighbor’s mother. However, Petroski
doesn’t blame anyone and admits he was always inclined to
addiction.
“I was probably like 16, a freshman in high school,” Petroski told
Home of Fight. “My neighbor’s mom would give us Oxy-80s. That was
the beginning. This was back in the oxy era, like 2006… I’ve got it
all—whatever you want to call it—the void, the addictive
personality. That’s what made me a terrible addict. But it’s also
what makes me a great fighter. I’ve got that fire.”
While he was training in MMA, Petroski was hesitant to turn pro due
to the fear of drug testing. Petroski even revealed he used to look
up if any then-active UFC fighters were addicts. After a point,
Petroski used drugs not to get high but merely for
survival.
Everything took a drastic turn when Petroski went a Philadelphia
neighborhood with a friend to score. While he usually used alone,
this time he was with a friend as he overdosed on the way back. The
friend dialled 911 and the paramedics came and revived Petroski.
However, the fighter panicked seeing the medics and cops, and
refused to go to the hospital. When asked to sign a form refusing
treatment, Petroski threw the form into the air. That’s when a
policeman pinned Petroski and held a stun gun to his head and the
fighter urinated in his pants.
“I came to and saw everything in the car—the cops, the
ambulance—and I freaked out… I said no [I don’t want to go to the
hospital], so she told me to step out and sign a form refusing
treatment… I step out, throw the clipboard in the air, and just
start booking it—right there on McDade Boulevard… And this cop
jacks me up against the ambulance, puts a stun gun on the back of
my head, and I piss myself,” Petroski said. “That was the moment.
That was the wake-up call. Sometimes, you just gotta piss yourself
to realize what you’re doing.”
Petroski’s life changed from there. After going to jail, he was
sent to the Malvern Institute for treatment followed by a recovery
house. Petroski found direction in life, turned clean and also met
his now-wife at the recovery house.
“I met people, got the help I needed, found a program, found God,”
he said. “It’s not like I scream about it from a mountain or shove
it down people’s throats. But I talk to God every day. I wake up
and ask Him to keep me clean. At night, I thank Him for my life…
We’re so far removed from that world. It feels like it was a
different life.”
Petroski is 8-2 in the UFC and riding a three-fight winning streak.
The 33-year-old returns to action this weekend against fellow
veteran Edmen
Shahbazyan this weekend at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta,
Georgia.