In less than one month, Dustin ”The Diamond” Poirier is getting another crack at the lightweight gold at UFC 302 against Islam Makhachev. At the age of 35 and with a mixed martial arts record spanning 39 fights, Poirier is now in the final chapter of his fighting career. Should he be victorious at UFC 302, he will become the lightweight champion at the third time of asking. Will that be curtains for ”The Diamond” if he wins at The Prudential Center in New Jersey, or will he still be looking for more legacy fights?
Poirier’s response may not be music to the ears of fans, many of whom would love to see him run it back once more with Justin Gaethje. The pair are almost certain to both be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in future, and with Poirier and Gaethje’s head-to-head record being one piece, a rubber match would undoubtedly be a huge pay-per-view event.
Understandably, Poirier isn’t thinking too much past June 1st as his upcoming fight with Islam Makhachev is arguably the toughest test of his eighteen-year fighting career. If the lightweight belt heads back to Louisiana come June 2nd, there’s every possibility that Poirier may call it a day. Although fighting is ”all he knows”, Poirier told Fight Bananas that he is looking forward to being a “civilian” once his MMA career is all said and done, and he is relishing spending more time with his family.
Keeping busy will be imperative for Dustin Poirier should he decide to hang up the gloves in the near future. He went to a dark place following his defeat to Justin Gaethje and spent the next few months working on improving his mental health. Poirier seems very reflective when discussing the tough period he went through recently. Counselling, which he received as part of his self-care, has had some benefits for him. Whether in the octagon or in business, being in a fight one way or another is key to Dustin Poirier’s happiness. He’s not one to sit around the house; ”The Diamond” has to keep busy in order to keep his brain in a healthy place. By his own admission, if he twiddles his thumbs, he becomes a danger to himself.
There are plenty of things to keep Dustin Poirier busy post-MMA. He owns a hot sauce company and stakes in various liquor companies. His biggest passion, though, is his charity, The Good Fight Foundation, which does great work giving back to his local community. Lafayette, Louisiana.
Elle Dawson, one of the hosts on Fight Bananas, asked Poirier what inspired him to start the foundation:
”What started this whole thing, back in 2017 or ’18, when I was getting ready to fight Eddie Alvarez, a police officer got killed in the line of duty back home a couple of blocks away from where my wife graduated high school, and he left behind a family. I decided to auction off the Eddie Alvarez fight-worn stuff and donate it to his family. Since then, it’s [the charity] just grown and grown” – Poirier told The Fight Bananas Show.
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