Credit: Anthony Geathers/Getty

Former UFC star Ian McCall continues to fight for military veterans and former fighters to get help for life after service.

After walking away from fighting, former UFC star Ian McCall struggled with life away from the Octagon. McCall’s ambitions to become an MMA television analyst fell apart due to an addiction to Oxycodone.

Now, in 2026, McCall is using his past mistakes to help former fighters and military veterans deal with life away from service.

McCall and UFC commentator Joe Rogan are two significant presences in the MMA space to promote psychedelic use for veterans and fighters to deal with addiction and mental health struggles. In April, Rogan sat alongside U.S. President Donald Trump as he signed an executive order to fast-track FDA research into psychedelics.

Despite not having Rogan’s multi-million following, McCall is a significant reason why research into psychedelics is finally coming to fruition.

Ian McCall working to help former fighters with post-career struggles with psychedelic use

During the latest episode of BetOnline‘s The Fight Guys podcast, McCall spoke about the lengths he’s going to help former fighters like himself overcome mental health struggles.

.@ErikBadApple and @Unclecreepymma talking on alternative treatments for veterans, fighters, and others who need help. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/sWtzrK8LbL

— BetOnline (@BetOnline_ag) September 4, 2026

“I’d never thought I would be a politician, but I take this with a lot of responsibility,” McCall said of his post-fighting work.

“We have some serious players in the space, at least 10 former UFC champions who we’re talking to. It speaks volumes; it’s big. I’ve been talking to the UFC about psychedelics since 2019…and I’ve been failed by academia and pharmaceuticals. Not just in my personal life, but in my business life. I turned around and said that I needed to do this myself; I have the scientific understanding of it, and now it’s here. I’m talking to Jeff Novitsky, and some serious players in the space who are looking in our direction…

“Every state has veterans who are f—– up, going through all kinds of things,” McCall continued. “Joe Rogan deserves an award, by the way. He got [U.S. President Donald Trump] to sign an executive order, and something we’ve wanted as researchers and people in the psychedelic space for decades…there’s money that’s about to be given out, state-by-state, a couple hundred million dollars. So finally, this will be a job, and not just me trying to fund it with money from myself, or my ‘rich’ friends.”

McCall and former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will host an Ayahuasca retreat for former athletes later this month. The goal of the retreat is to promote overcoming mental health trauma and traumatic brain injuries associated with fighting.

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