Dustin Poirier Gets Honest About Post-retirement Emotions

UFC legend Dustin Poirier has opened up on how he feels about his ongoing mixed martial arts retirement.

As we know, Dustin Poirier is no longer an active MMA fighter after hanging up his gloves earlier this year. While he’s focusing his attention on other things, including some analyst work, it’s clear to see that ‘The Diamond’ is still in there, and that he’s still hungry to be the warrior that we all know him to be.

In a recent interview, Poirier spoke candidly about how much he’s been struggling with retirement.

Dustin Poirier discusses MMA retirement

“Yeah, it’s harder than I thought it would be,” Poirier told MMA Fighting while promoting a new partnership with Bud Light. “I thought it would be a relief. When I finally put the gloves down, and I don’t have this weight on my back, or this cloud over my head of getting better, or what’s next, there’s another fighter training to compete against me. That’s been like that in my mind for 20 years. I thought it would be a relief and an exhale, and life would begin in a different way, but it kind of hasn’t yet.

“Maybe I’m still processing, maybe it’s going to take more time than I expected, but when you do something for this long and dedicate your life to it, every day I was waking up with a fire under me trying to be a better fighter, get in better shape, learn new tricks, ask questions. It was a journey of finding out a lot about myself, but finding it out through martial arts. 

“And then one day you wake up and it’s just not there, but the fire’s still there. But the fact that I’m not going to get to do this again — and any time I’ve ever lost in my career I’ve always righted the ship, I’ve always put things back in the right direction — and now walking away from this, I know that was it. I don’t get a chance to right this ship anymore, I don’t get a chance to put my hands in the air again.

“I miss it more than I thought I would, and I’m still processing it all day by day. Time heals all, but I’m just hoping I get into a better flow. I’ve been really just trying to keep my mind busy, staying busy doing things so I don’t have time to sit around. But, God, I’ve got to tell you, the days are long when I’m not waking up training, coming home, training again, doing road work. It’s a way of life. It’s not just a sport I competed in, it was a way I lived my life, and I’m still processing.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting