As if his impressive UFC 299 victory over Benoit St. Denis wasn’t message enough, Dustin Poirier had a few words for UFC CEO Dana White in the immediate aftermath of the win.
When an unranked St. Denis called out Dustin Poirier last November, “The Diamond” was initially dismissive of the callout. Poirier was taken by surprise when the Ultimate Fighting Championship called him up with the offer and had to find inner motivation to accept the fight.
An underdog going into his UFC 299 clash against “God of War,” Dustin Poirier struggled in wrestling exchanges in the opening. However, Louisiana’s finest came from behind to shut St. Denis lights out with a right hook in the second round.
Having already made a statement with the nature of his win, “The Diamond” then walked over to the UFC head honcho to share a few words. While it initially seemed like Poirier was talking to former U.S. President Donald Trump, Poirier revealed that his message was for White.
“It looked like I was talking to Trump, I was talking to Dana… I said ‘Hey, you want me to fight this young motherf—-kers, huh? This is what happens.’ That’s what I told him,” Dustin Poirier said on “The MMA Hour.”
White was all praise for Dustin Poirier’s performance, labeling the former interim lightweight champ a “f—-ing legend.” Poirier also exchanged some sincere words with St. Denis in the Octagon after their “Fight of the Night” battle. With a career spanning over a decade and a half, Poirier is realizing the importance of health much more as he grows older. While Poirier believes St. Denis has a promising career ahead, he advised the Frenchman to take ample time to tend to his health.
“I got to talk to St. Denis a little before we walked out of the Octagon, too. [Because] we didn’t really get to talk [during] fight week, it was fight nerves and staring each other down and stuff like that. So I wanted to just shake his hands and talk to him…Told him [to] take care of himself, train smart. I said, ‘If you wanna do this, you’ll be right back where you just were, but take care of yourself.’ As I get older and having fights like I had with Gaethje, I just think about what we do, like I respect these guys, their tenacity for chasing this dream but this is bad for you.”