Joe Riggs was sitting on the floor with a gunshot wound in his leg, watching the blood pump from his thigh in a rhythm that matched the beating of his heart, and he knew he was going to die.



Not feared, mind you. Not suspected. He knew it. All that blood? The way it practically spouted forth? He knew that meant there was a good chance he’d hit his femoral artery, and all because he’d accidentally hit the trigger while trying to take apart the handgun he carried with him everywhere, trying to remove a live round one night after MMA practice.



This was five years ago, back when things were really starting to turn around for Riggs. He was already an old school veteran of the sport, even then he was still in his early 30s. He’d just won Bellator’s “Fight Master” TV series, which was an impressive enough accomplishment that it earned him another shot in the UFC.



“I remember (then UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva told me, ‘Do...