Fighter Profile: Dustin Poirier - The Story Everyone Should Admire
Dustin Poirier has a chance to put the stamp on a historic career Saturday night. The obstacles he has faced, the mindset he teaches, and the story of the Diamond is one that everyone should root for.
“How much can I give up of myself to this sport? I’m 35 years old, every time I get in there I leave pieces I can’t get back. Would I do it again? 100%… It’s given me everything I have and has taught me so much. I can’t really perfectly explain it, but I am addicted to fighting.”
At UFC 302 this Saturday, one of the exciting and most decorated veterans of the sport gets his third, and most likely final, UFC Undisputed Championship shot... And he is right, he has given everything to this sport.
Anyone who has watched MMA, follows the sports, or competes in the sport, has watched and admired Dustin Poirier grow up inside the Octagon for ~15 years.
He is the epitome of someone who faced countless obstacles early on, looked like he didn’t have a chance, faced defeat numerous times in the public eye, won in some of the most memorable fashions just to face more adversity when he got to the top.
He has built a life and career while taking a path that most human beings will never experience or could imagine, but that is why we love this sport… Because of stories like Dustin Poirier…
Childhood
Born and raised in Lafayette, LA where crime and poverty are well above the national average in the USA - and he saw it first hand
Parents divorced at age 5, raised by mother, immediately turned to fighting and misbehaving as a reaction
Absolutely despised school - avoided going any chance he got, would leave mid day and steal his mother’s work van (8th grade), he snuck out to a local convenient store where he called 911 asking them to take him home (1st grade)…
Constantly would get in fights at school and then decided to become a little more organized…
At age 10, he was arrested for not only building a make shift boxing ring and organizing fights, but also for knocking out a 15-year old requiring major dental surgery (he was 10…)
“I was in a lot of street fights when I was younger. I got into them when I was younger, then plenty through high school, and it was always something I was good at. It’s weird to say, but I found a sense of calm in the chaos. I enjoy that about fighting. I dropped out in ninth grade. I went to juvenile detention and things just got complicated.”
Mother entered him into a program where if he continued to skip class and cause trouble, he would be entered into a juvenile detention center - he dropped out at age 15 and was sent to a detention center for a month followed by a three month long military boot camp
Caught his first break when he was able to secure a job at McDonalds where he could earn some money, drink with his friends, and hang out with his childhood sweetheart (and current wife)
At age 18, he found a local boxing gym and never looked back
“I was head over heels with combat. I went to sleep thinking about it. I woke up thinking about it. I worked all day thinking about it. It was who I was. I would have cut anybody off to continue. I would have done whatever it took to continue. I loved it. And it felt like it loved me back at that moment in my life…”
Career
The resume, the difficulty of opponents, the highlights, the records, they all speak for themselves. But Dustin Poirier harps on the fact that his career (the highs and the lows) show his character. He has a mentality that I think everyone should have even if your job isn’t to punch somebody in the face… Here is what he said yesterday:
“To go undefeated your entire career is hard to do and crazy impressive, but to keep picking yourself up when you get knocked down, show that never say die attitude, pulling things together, learning from mistakes, and to have the grit in you to keep pushing forward when things don’t look well. It shows a lot about the person, their work ethic and their self belief. You get to live on a different side, there are a lot of lessons on the dark side of not winning that you learn and take through life.”
He opened his WEC career with a loss… followed by five wins. He then lost 2/3 within a year and a half period and fell back in the rankings. It would take him 14 fights to get his first title shot where he went 12-2
2019 - He lost his first Undisputed Title Fight, he proceeded to go on a three fight win streak including two W’s against Conor McGregor
2021 - He got his second shot and proceeded to get submitted by the man with the most finishes in UFC history (the same way he lost his first chance)
After that lose he got a submission of his own to get back in the win column against Michael Chandler.
And then the head kick that shocked the world. In the 2nd round of the BMF Title fight, Poirier got knocked out cold by a Justin Gaethje head kick. Where would he go from here? Was this the end?
Poirier accepted a fight against someone lower in the rankings. A young undefeated prospect who not only was a terrifying fighter, but a decorated army veteran for the French military. A man who has legit fought to the death…
He was older, coming off a big lose, was a big underdog, and proceeded to get a knock out victory in the second round propelling him to the top rankings to get a title shot…
Here we are… and the man he must go through is the protege of the man he lost his first chance to, Khabib Nurmagomedov. The #1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Islam Makhachev
Poirier is a huge underdog, but adversity is no stranger to Dustin. Everyone is rooting for him and with a story like his, everybody should root for him in whatever he does…
Business/Legacy
Despite being a high school dropout, Poirier has created a very successful and lucrative career doing something he loves from a young age.
He is doing so while standing side by side with the same woman he has been with his entire life, who has helped him through the ups and downs, while raising their daughter.
Poirier’s Louisiana Style Hot Sauce - a representation of his roots in Louisiana, the Diamond created a hot sauce brand that has spread in popularity massively and is located in stores world wide
Rare Stash Bourbon - a whiskey company to showcase his passion for whiskey collecting while providing people with something that is “perfect for savoring when life gives you moments worth celebrating”
The Good Fight Foundation - an international nonprofit organization started by Dustin and his wife where they “fight the good fight for those who can’t
They started by auctioning off Dustin’s fight gear from events and they quickly realized the power and reach they had when his gear from UFC 211 provided over 3,000 meals for families in his home city - only grown since
I’ve done fight profiles in the past, and there are tons of UFC stories that make me love this sport beyond the entertainment.
But if somehow, someway, Dustin Poirier pulls off this win on Saturday, it will be one of the biggest and most wholesome moments in recent sports history… When I say everyone is rooting for him, I think EVERYONE is rooting for him.
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