Dustin Poirier went out guns blazing at UFC 302 trying to dethrone the champion in his third crack at the LW gold. However, despite the veteran’s resilience, Islam Makhachev’s skills were too overwhelming for ‘The Diamond’. Following the fight, Poirier told Joe Rogan that this might have been curtains for his career. However, former champion, Daniel Cormier has urged him to reconsider.
Cormier, much like most of us fans thinks it is too early for Poirier to bow out of the sport. Even though he has been fighting for 17 odd years now, Poirier is still only 35 and has beat the who’s who of his generation. He’s fought the best and defeated the best, sometimes even twice.
Poirier’s fellow Louisiana native, DC also believes the same. Discussing ‘The Diamond’s’ potential retirement, the former UFC heavyweight champion has said that he doesn’t want to see Poirier leave the industry. Instead, according to DC, he should not just be going after money fights at this point in his career.
“He is such an attraction now in the world of fighting that he has got a lot of money to be made and a lot of big fights to be had, he’s only 35 years old, so he can do this for a long time, maybe don’t fight as frequently but continue to make that walk because once you’re done, you’re done and you can’t come back from it.”
The fact of the matter is that if he’s bowed out already, he did so like a warrior, on his shield after putting up a valiant effort against Makhachev. There’s no shame in losing to killers like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. But then one must consider just how long Poirier has been doing this.
During the post-fight interview, he talked about how a bit of him gets left behind in the octagon every time he fights. Reflecting on the sacrifices his family has made for him, he spoke about his wish to spend more time with them, with his daughter.
But then again, Dustin is only 35 years old and has a whole community behind him. It was evident at the Prudential Center where every punch he landed on the Russian had the crowd on their feet.
So yes, there’s a lot of potential for big money fights as DC says. Think about a possible rubber match with Conor McGregor or he could even run it back with Max Holloway; the possibilities are endless for the Louisiana bomber.
As of now, Poirier is undecided on his future in the promotion but his post-fight speech got every fan tear-eyed as he credited all his success to the women in his life.
Dustin Poirier delivers an emotional speech after his loss to Makhachev
Poirier headed into the fight clearly as the underdog taking Makhachev head-on, stuffing his takedowns, and busting him open. Despite this valiant effort, Makhachev pushed him to the edge and retained his belt, defeating ‘The Diamond’ in front of his family who were present in the arena.
To his credit, he hung in there with the pound-for-pound best not for just one or two but for 5 straight rounds of hell. While fight fans were thrilled to see him take the fight to Makhachev, emotions overwhelmed them after hearing Poirier’s post-fight speech.
He paid his respects to his late grandmother, his mother, and his wife for having his back through thick and thin before he gave his daughter, a teary-eyed Parker Noelle a much-needed hug.
