Poirier laid out the pros and cons of retiring during the UFC 302 press conference, coming to no clear decision as to what his future may hold.
Dustin Poirier lost his UFC 302 fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev on Saturday night, and while he didn’t outright retire during his in-cage interview with Joe Rogan, he heavily suggested he would.
There was no walking back that sentiment during the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, where “The Diamond” gave a more detailed explanation of the thoughts running through his head following his tough fifth round submission loss (watch the finish and highlights here).
“I just gotta see,” Poirier told the assembled press at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. “I was fighting to be the world champion. Like, what what else am I fighting for? Just to fight for the thrill? Because I am addicted to it? For the money? I’m good, me and my family are good. I don’t need the money. Money’s great. But my health is first and, like, what am I fighting for?”
“To be the champion again? Will I ever get that shot even if I go on a streak? I don’t know. There’s such a tough mountain to climb that I’ve climbed so many times. I’m 35. And people say, ‘That’s not old.’ But I have 50 fights. I’ve been fighting since I was 17 years old. I’ve fought my first cage fight when I was 18. I have 10 fights that aren’t on my record. And I’ve been in a bunch of battles. At some time, this is gonna catch up to me.”
Despite all that, Poirier feels like he was right there against Makhachev through their war.
“Obviously, I just fought the pound-for-pound No. 1 guy,” he said. “And every time I got off the stool, I felt like I was gonna win this fight. I remember thinking, getting off the stool, ‘I’m gonna be the world champion tonight.’ I felt it. So I just gotta see. I beat a young guy last time out. I just competed with the No. 1 pound-for-pound guy and felt good doing it until the end. So I just gotta see.”
The key point seems to be going out on his own terms.
Khabib and Dustin exchanged words backstage after #UFC302 pic.twitter.com/oWeCXfsD4B
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 2, 2024
“I can still compete, but I don’t want the sport to retire me and squeeze me out,” Poirier said. “You know, I don’t wanna be one of those guys hanging on. I just honor and respect this too much, and we’ll see. I don’t know. But this could this could be my last fight.”
“I still feel the same when I’m healthy and fighting out there,” he added later. “But training camp’s definitely, you know, I can’t do two or three-a-days hard. I have to do one live day, one technique day. One one-day, just focus on techniques. One day, I can go live. I can’t do two-a-days like I used to. I used to be able to do that no problem. Now I carry the bumps and bruises from training camp a lot longer.”
He’ll be carrying some serious bumps from the Makhachev fight for a while. He broke his nose on his opponent’s head, and suspects he may have injured his ACL trying to stay upright during a takedown. Healing those will give him the time he needs to decide what he wants next. Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje … or retirement?
As for what his family wants, there’s no question.
“I know the answer to that,” Poirier admitted. “They want me to to stop. But I know I can still compete with these guys. I just gotta figure out what I’m fighting for.”