Ahead of his lightweight title fight at UFC 302, Dustin Poirier has opened up on the mental health challenges he’s faced and fought through in the past 12 months.
There are countless reasons why Dustin Poirier remains one of the most popular fighters on the entire UFC roster; not only does ‘The Diamond’ continue his key charitable work with The Good Fight Foundation but also serves as a role model to those of us struggling with mental health issues.
Dustin Poirier fights for the UFC lightweight title in June
There are only a handful of fighters who can boast the resume and legacy of Dustin Poirier, let alone the type of admiration that ‘The Diamond’ receives from his peers and global fanbase.
The popular 30-8 lightweight is currently deep in preparation for what could very well be his final fight in the sport; another shot at undisputed championship glory and a chance to best Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in June.
Yet there’s more to fighting than simply throwing punches and kicks, there’s a whole hidden side of the sport that rarely gets talked about within the public forum – an MMA athlete’s mental health and wellbeing.
Dustin Poirier opens up on mental health struggles ahead of UFC 302
Speaking via the Fight Bananas YouTube channel, Dustin Poirier opened up on the mental challenges that he’s faced following his KO loss to Justin Gaethje last year.
Not only did Poirier offer insight into his own personal issues with mental health, but also provided vitally important advice to young athletes who might be struggling with their own challenges.
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“First of all, head trauma is not good for you – that’s a big part of it,” said the fan-favorite lightweight, explaining how people are quick to forget about career-defining achievements once you suffer a defeat in the UFC octagon:
“I’ve given this sport so much, not only physically but with my time and focus. Being a fighter, you have to focus on you [but] I want to be with my family, focus on my daughter, my wife, my foundation, my businesses…A lot of stuff gets put on hold to chase dreams.”
“Putting so much into a result or outcome and then your life’s kind of revolving around that night – it feels like everything you’ve done in your whole career; people look at you on that single night performance and forget about everything else, all the mountains you’ve already climbed.”
The former interim champion stated that aside from the punches and kicks, mental health remains one of the most significant and often-overlooked components of the fight game:
“We focus so much on the physical part of this [sport] but fighting is so mental [and] fighting is just a portion of our life – we have a whole other life after fighting and outside of fighting.”
“I was just down on myself, but focusing on my mindset, talking to people, having my wife by my side, having good friends back home, I went to counseling weekly.”
Poirier also admitted that thanks to a period of self-reflection, he now thinks of himself as “a different person since [from when] I fought Gaethje in Utah to now.”
Looking ahead, ‘The Diamond’ of the MMA community acknowledged that he hopes to bring the lessons he’s learned over the past 12 months into UFC 302 and his fight against champion Islam Makhachev.
“Even coming into this fight here on June 1, I’m trying not to put so much – of course I want to be world champion, but nothing is guaranteed…I do feel honestly that I’m going to be world champion in a month [and] words become things. But I have to be content with whatever happens because that’s just how life goes.”
Dustin Poirier notably received the Forrest Griffin Community Award in 2021 for his tireless work with various charitable organizations and the founding of The Good Fight Foundation; which fans from around the world can donate to, and support.
Dustin Poirier vs Islam Makhachev is the main event of UFC 302, scheduled to go down on June 1 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.