DJ Siddiqi is a sports reporter who focuses on football, basketball, baseball and pro wrestling. He has covered some of the biggest sporting events, including the NBA Finals and Wrestlemania and often interviews high-profile athletes....
Read Full BioDustin Poirier admits that post-retirement life from the UFC isn’t easy.
The 36-year-old UFC great retired in July following his trilogy fight with rival Max Holloway, which took place in his home state of Louisiana. While Poirier had a storybook conclusion to his career by fighting his last bout in his home state, he says there are still days when he feels like he has another fight in him.
“There’s good days and bad days since I retired,” Poirier told CasinoBeats in an exclusive interview. “Some days I wake up feeling like, ‘Okay, that was the right decision.’ Some days I wake up feeling like, ‘I got five fights left in me.’ It’s a battle. I’d always rather walk away three or four early than three or four late in this game. My wife’s pregnant, my daughter’s nine, I need to be home more.”
Poirier stresses that the focus is on his family after fighting for nearly two decades. The lightweight great initially made his debut in the UFC in 2011 and has 40 battles under his belt. He acknowledges that fighting is a “very selfish sport” that requires a lot of time and dedication.
That appears to be something that Poirier can’t give at this stage of his life.
“Fighting is a very selfish sport, man,” Poirier said. “It’s a very selfish sport. So just trying to make the right decisions in my life, for my family, for myself, my well being, and life goes on.”
While the urge to return and fight in the octagon is still there, Poirier says “he’s done” when asked if there’s any chance of him coming back.
“Never say never,” says Poirier. “But I’m done, man. I’m done.”
Poirier has teased a boxing fight with Nate Diaz, something that never happened in the UFC. A fight was originally scheduled in 2018, but it was cancelled due to an injury suffered by Poirier. He says there’s been no traction on a potential boxing fight with Diaz.
“Yeah, there’s no traction,” says Poirier matter-of-factly when asked about the potential boxing fight.
Poirier: I Was Superstitious As A Young Fighter
When the topic of whether he was ever a superstitious fighter during his career is brought up, Poirier says he was at the start of his MMA career, but that went away as time went on.
“Yeah, when I was younger, until I got to like 10-to-15 fights under my belt when I was an amateur fighter,” says Poirier. “I would try to do things a certain way every time. If I had luck the previous fight, I definitely was. I had to break myself of those things. I would deliberately do things differently to prove to myself that that’s crazy. I’m being crazy.”
Poirier has since made the transition to being an on-screen personality for UFC fights for ESPN. He has taken on a full-time role since his retirement in July and says it’s something he’s very comfortable with and that it keeps him close to the octagon.
“I’ve been fighting for longer than I haven’t been fighting,” says Poirier. “So talking about fighting, watching it go down in front of me on a screen and breaking down what’s going on, that’s not work to me. I do that every weekend with my friends, I can intelligently talk about any situation a mixed martial arts fighter gets in for both guys and women in the octagon.
“I just know—it’s what I’ve done my whole life,” Poirier continues. “To be connected to the sport that’s allowed me to create this life that I have with my family, I want to do that. I want to be a voice linked to the sport.”
Poirier admits that he’s not sure what his future is on screen once UFC moves to Paramount — the deal begins in 2026 — but says he wants to continue doing it.
“Not even a month after I retired, I worked the Chicago card,” says Poirier. “I did feel good doing it. I felt good all week, I was excited. It gave me butterflies in my stomach. That’s what I just want to do more.”
Poirier: Conor McGregor Will Knock Out Michael Chandler
The big event that could potentially take place following UFC’s debut on Paramount is the card at the White House.
While it’s not official yet, the potential card could take place on June 14—the birthday of President Donald Trump—and could feature the long-awaited fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, along with the return of Jon Jones.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” says Poirier. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be done again. If they go through and crush this first one, it’s history. This is a sport we’re talking about that was banned in certain states not that long ago, a few years ago. Now we’re talking about the lawn of the White House, the UFC setting up an octagon. It’s crazy to think about.
“But that just shows you, because I’ve been in the sport for awhile, I was able to ride this wave and this trajectory of (UFC) becoming a mainstream sport,” Poirier continues. “From back when it was small groups who would talk about fighting in mixed martial arts on the weekend. Now we’re talking about the White House lawn, the cage being set up, and Bruce Buffer introducing people. It’s unbelievable to me how quick this sport has grown.”
Poirier—who has had his share of battles with McGregor—says that he would pick his former nemesis in a fight with Chandler.
“That’s a layup for Conor,” says Poirier. “That’s a great matchup stylistically. A fight is a fight, so anything can happen. But I do believe that Conor is going to knock Chandler out if they fight. I think it’s just a very bad matchup for Michael Chandler.”
When asked what makes McGregor such a big name years after fighting in his prime, Poirier says it’s his “mic skills” and star power.
“We’ve never seen a star of that magnitude in the UFC, who would back up what he says he’s going to do,” says Poirier. “Who would call his shots, the mic skills, the fighter he was. It was just a perfect storm. He did it. Two-division world champion. A lot of times, he did what he said he was going to do. Had the gift of gab, was great on the mic, made people want to tune in to watch him fight, whether you were buying the Pay-Per-View to watch him win, or you were against him and you bought it to watch him lose. You bought it anyways. He knew what he was doing.”
Poirier defeated McGregor twice in their three matchups. Although they were rivals when they fought, the Louisiana native has the ultimate respect for the Irish star as he looks to make a comeback to the octagon.
“Even if there is somebody who comes along and can do that, and follow up with what they say, I don’t know if we’re ever going to see another star that big in the UFC again,” says Poirier of McGregor.
Poirier: Jon Jones “Best Pound-For-Pound’ Fighter Ever
In regard to Jon Jones—who technically retired earlier this year—Poirier says the 38-year-old is the “best” to ever do it because he fought everybody and excelled in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions. He went 28-1 during his fighting career.
“He’s the G.O.A.T. to me,” says Poirier of Jones. “He’s never lost. He fought everybody, and now he’s doing it at heavyweight. Just a special individual, man. To me, the best pound-for-pound No. 1 MMA ever.”
As mentioned earlier, UFC has inked a deal with Paramount worth $7.7 billion across seven years. For perspective, UFC’s deal with ESPN was worth $1.5 billion across five years in 2018.
In other words, UFC has grown tremendously since then, earning more than $1 billion per year in its new broadcasting deal with Paramount.
Poirier says he didn’t think UFC would stray away from the pay-per-view model either, but feels this deal with Paramount will bring even more eyeballs to the sport.
“No, I didn’t see this coming,” says Poirier when asked if he foresaw UFC’s explosion in popularity to this degree. “Not that I doubted the sports potential to become a mainstream sport. It just feels like I was actively fighting through most of the big times, when we went to Fox, when we went to ESPN. I was competing, so I was kind of caught up in the mix of grinding and working and fighting.
“But now that I’m retired, I step back and really think about things,” says Poirier. “I heard a stat that it was one of the top big four sports in the US now. Me going to the grocery store on a Sunday after a Saturday night fight card, and somebody’s grandmother coming up to me and talking about arm bars and stuff just seems so crazy compared to when I started this. Soccer moms talking about certain fighters. This is nuts. This is a household sport.”
