Two failed UFC title bids have been rough on Dustin Poirier. After this most recent loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 269, “The Diamond” has been up in the air in terms of what he wants to do next.
It can indeed be a frustrating situation for the 32-year-old Lafayette native, who continues to ponder his future and if he still has something to fight for.
“Looking in the mirror and asking myself, ‘What happens next?’ That’s the big question,” Poirier told Teddy Atlas in a recent interview. “What happens next for me? Because if I’m out of the title picture, am I fighting to get myself back there? Or am I fighting for a paycheck? Am I fighting ‘cause I love to get into fights?
“That’s a big question I have to answer. I’m still, like I said, trying to process everything.
“My life is so intertwined with fighting. I’ve been fighting for 15 years and I’ve been chasing this dream with all of myself. I go to sleep thinking about it, I wake up thinking about it. I can’t even go on vacation without thinking these guys are getting better while I’m sitting back, getting a sun tan with my family. There’s like a cloud always on my mind.”
Poirier may still be in his prime years, but he is on the older side in terms of his fighting age. Even still, retirement is something he’s not ready to entertain just yet.
“Fighting is just something I do. But when you do it this long and give it everything you have, it becomes who you are, in a way,” he said. “I always wanted to separate them and keep fighting as something I do. I’m other things. I’m a father, a husband, all these other things.
“But the more I get to this point where I have to make these big decisions, I realize that it’s not just something I do. I really am fighting.
“So to say the word ‘retire’ and think I’mma walk away, never fight again or something like that, I just don’t know how to process that in my brain. It doesn’t feel right saying it. I just don’t know.”
In the same conversation with Atlas, Poirier stated he agreed to a “super short-notice” fight with UFC superstar Nate Diaz. The two were booked to fight at UFC 230 in 2018, but Poirier withdrew due to an injury.
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