With over 40 professional fights, being away from the octagon for months seems to be proving difficult for Dustin Poirier to process after years immersed in MMA.
In an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, the former interim lightweight champion broke his silence and revealed how he is struggling to adapt to his new life as a retired fighter after nearly two decades of going from fight to fight.
According to ‘The Diamond,’ all of the efforts and decisions he made over the years were with the goal of evolving as a high-performance athlete.
But after beginning this new chapter of his life, he admits to experiencing a confusing emotional state.
Retiring is scary. The days are longer, I have a lot of time. I don’t need to prepare for a fight. I’m not saying I’m depressed, but it’s weird. It’s like, ‘What am I going to do with my life?
“I woke up every day for the last 20 years thinking about how to be a better fighter, what was new in the fitness world, and how to become a champion. Suddenly, you leave your gloves on the canvas and become a civilian,” explained Poirier, who retired following his fight at UFC 318.
Even though it was his profession during a phase of his life, leaving behind a life completely tied to being a fighter in a high-performance sport like MMA has brought complications for Poirier, who has been looking for ways to manage the situation.
“It’s like I’m rediscovering who I am. I don’t know who I am without fighting. I’m a father, a husband, many things. But being a fighter was a cloud in my mind that never cleared for 20 years. Now I wake up and it’s gone. What do I do? I’m still trying to figure it out,” Dustin concluded.
Although he was never the lineal champion, Dustin Poirier built one of the most impressive careers in the history of MMA. Aside from being a former interim lightweight champion, ‘The Diamond’ also became part of the Top 5 in the featherweight division.
With 14 years in the UFC, he faced names like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and Charles Oliveira. He also secured victories against names like Max Holloway, Conor McGregor, Eddie Alvarez, and Justin Gaethje.
