Dustin Poirier has done it all in MMA — except for one thing
LAS VEGAS — Predicting future success for a 21-year-old athlete is always a risky business, which is why there is always so much turnover in the executive ranks in professional sports.
When Dustin Poirier joined the UFC as a 21-year-old with an 8-1 record, there were as many questions as there were answers. He clearly had talent, and expectations were high, but MMA was going through a boom period with many elite athletes joining the sport.
The odds of success for any one of them in particular was low.
His opponent at UFC 125 was Josh Grispi, a featherweight who at the time was as hyped as Poirier. Poirier won that fight by decision. It was the first of four losses in a row for Grispi, who was done with the sport for good in 2013.
But nearly 12 years since that night, Poirier is still around, almost at the pinnacle of his sport. He’s No. 2 on the Yahoo Sports pound-for-pound list and he has a résumé that includes two wins over Conor McGregor and Max Holloway, as well as victories over Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Dan Hooker and Anthony Pettis.
He’s fulfilled every reasonable expectation of him, and then some. He’s done everything there is to do in this sport except one thing.
And that brings us to UFC 269 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, when Poirier challenges Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title. It will be Poirier’s ninth consecutive main event as he chases the belt that has eluded him.
He beat Holloway for an interim title in 2019 at UFC 236, but was submitted by champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in his next outing.
That stung, but he’s a favorite to finally land the only thing that has eluded him in his magnificent career. Poirier is a -160 favorite at BetMGM to defeat Oliveira and become the UFC champion. Oliveira is +135.
Poirier has already fought twice in 2021 and were it not a title fight, he may have elected to pass on this event. But given what is at stake, he’s back for one more try.
“Winning the title is my ultimate goal,” Poirier said. “It’s at the top of the list of things to do in mixed martial arts, so it’s very important to me.”
To do it, he’ll have to get past perhaps an unlikely champion. Oliveira is 10 months younger than Poirier and joined the UFC eight months after he did, so they’ve been shoulder to shoulder during their journey through the sport for years. They’ve each competed at both featherweight and lightweight.
Oliveira, though, had many more ups and downs. He’s 19-8 in the UFC and has defeated the likes of Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson. He’s had issues with making weight and at one point lost three out of four fights.
But he never gave in and will bring a nine-fight winning streak into Saturday’s bout. Poirier was never sure they’d fight, but he knew as he watched from a distance that he was always a threat.
“The sport’s evolved and progressed so much in the past few years that there’s no more of that stylistic thing where, ‘This guy’s a grappler against a striker,’” Poirier said. “MMA has become its own martial art. You have to evolve and be able to do everything, so yeah, he’s been around a long time and his game is rounded.”
The same could be said of Poirier, who is as good as it gets in the sport now. He’s handled fighters of all stripes with intelligence and precision.
His success has given him a huge platform, which he has used to improve the lives of others. He estimated his charitable The Good Fight Foundation has donated more than $1 million already, and it’s only going to get bigger.
And while Poirier is all about the fight, one of the things that makes him so compelling is his selflessness and his eagerness to help others.
He gets a similar feeling helping others as he does from beating the best fighters in the world.
A few years ago, he raised money to build a playground for disabled children in Louisiana. Earlier this year, he was passing out backpacks loaded with school supplies when he met a young paralyzed boy.
“[This boy] told me, ‘Thank you. I used to not be able to play, but now I can play at recess,’” Poirier said. “That right there … was a pretty incredible moment for me.”
He delivers incredible moments in and out of the cage. It’s who Dustin Poirier is and what makes him such a unique and compelling figure.
