Christy Mack is a survivor. The petite porn star claims she was nearly beaten to death by her former boyfriend War Machine. Her story went viral after she posted gruesome pictures from the attack to her official Twitter account. With millions of followers, it wasn’t long before Mack’s incident became a national story. For the first time since her beating, Mack sat down for an interview with ESPN.

Even though she’s had multiple surgeries to fix her face, it isn’t the same. "I didn't look in the mirror for weeks," Mack, 23, told the news site after the attack. She was left with 18 broken bones, a broken nose, missing and broke teeth, a ruptured liver and bruises throughout her body. He also apparently sawed off her signature black Mohawk, the distinguishing feature that helped make her a star in the adult entertainment world.

"Just feeling my face, I knew it wasn't right," she said. "So when I'd look in the mirror, it's not me -- that person wasn't me. It's so hard to go every day without being you anymore."

But before things became gruesome, the tumultuous couple fell in love quickly. "He became abusive about four to five months in, but by that time I was totally in love with him," she said about her relationship with the former UFC fighter, also known as Jon Koppenhaver.

When he burst into her Las Vegas home Aug. 8, he allegedly flew into a rage when he found her with friend Corey Thomas. After the supposed assault, Mack bravely posted the photos to Twitter. But response from some people was shocking.

"It wasn't OK for people to say I got what I deserved when they had no idea what my struggle was," she told ESPN. "I'm not going to sit around in my hospital bed and have people say that I did something wrong. This is what happened, so I decided to put it out there." She added: "I did nothing wrong -- it wasn't like I said, 'Please hit me again,'" she said.

Now, Mack rocks a shaved head and though most of her wounds have healed, she has a “property of War Machine” tattoo that remains on her back. Of course, she loathes the mark and plans to cover it with another image.

Mack is active on social media and regularly engages with her 721,000 followers. After the interview, she thanked ESPN. “I appreciate your kind words,” she said.

Click here to read Mack’s full interview.

War Machine, 32, has pleaded not guilty to 32 felony charges. His trial will begin in the fall and he could face life in prison if found guilty, Complex wrote. The former Mixed Martials Arts star maintains his innocence in the court and online. He’s has since turned to God and wrote that he’s “not a bad guy.”

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella

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