Dustin "Diamond" Poirier
"Pressure makes diamonds" If there is a quote that fits the lightweight fighter (155 lbs) best, that will be it. Growing up in Lafayette Louisiana, Dustin's father left when he was just five years old, with divorced parents and a rough neighborhood, he became your typical troublemaker in school and often got into trouble causing him to drop out in ninth grade, one good thing did come out of school for him, and that is his future wife, Jolie, she believed in him when times he doesn't himself.
Aggressiveness is often frowned upon in a civilized society, but it is also a source of motivation. Dustin is familiar with the aggressiveness, he knew he would be a fighter when he first stepped into a MMA gym. At the gym, he found peace.
"He's finally found what he's been looking for all this time." - Dustin's mother
Dustin quickly racked up a 7-0 winning and his talent got the attention of a big MMA organization, WEC, but on his first fight on the big stage, he took home a loss, he understands that he is now in one of the big league and needs to start pushing himself. In 2011, the MMA world had a groundbreaking news, UFC officially bought out the WEC, and the two big leagues have now combined, which means that Dustin will have competitors. He decided to move a weight class lower and fight at featherweight (145 lbs) in hopes of becoming a championship. He immediately finds success in 145, winning four fights in a role, and these four wins included a future featherweight champion, Max Holloway, however, to become a diamond, you need precise tools and technique for the diamond to become the perfect shape. Dustin was just a few wins away from a title shot, but the dream would be cut short by fellow top contender the Korean zombie (Jung Chan Sung). After the loss, his next four fights would result in a 4-1 record, with the championship in sight, he faced up against the rising superstar and the soon-to-be biggest star in the UFC, Conor Mcgregor, everyone against Dustin due to the popularity of Conor and with the notorious trash talk from Conor, Dustin struggles to control his emotions. Emotions can be a double-edged sword and Dustin happens to be on the wrong side of the blade in the fight with Conor. With just 1 minute 46 seconds into the first round, Dustin lost via Tko. The continuous bounce back really hurt Dustin, and he knows it is time for a change.
"When the bell rings I was like a deer in the headlights, it's happening, here we go, all that talk and everything over the month (Conor's trash talk) just sat in my head" - Dustin Poirier on his fight against Conor Mcgregor
Dustin moved the Florida in search of better people to help train him, American Top Team is where Dustin ended up, one of the best gyms for MMA and provided several champions through the years, he decided to go back up to 155lbs to focus more on training rather than cutting weight. This decision may have seemed like a wrong one at the time due to the number of great fighters at 155lbs at the time, but the way that Dustin accepted defeat, bounced back, and set up new goals to achieve, gained the respect of lots of people, The diamond in MMA is destined to shine bright.
After Dustin moved up to lightweight, a major shift happened in both light and featherweight, with the lightweight champion constantly changing, and the man that Dustin once beat, Max Holloway gaining the throne at featherweight, Dustin on the other hand just continued his journey to the top climbing the lightweight mountain one step at a time. A major shift not only happened inside the cage but also outside, Jolie (Dustin's wife) gave birth to their daughter, and this will be a huge changing point in his career.
"I was always fighting mostly for myself, this is very selfish sport, but now having a daughter, it's about fighting for her, I want to give her opportunities that I didn't had" - Dustin Poirier on the birth on his daughter
Eventually, he finds himself facing the former lightweight champ, Eddie Alvarez, with a win over the former champ, it is almost guaranteed that Dustin is going to fight for the title next, but in the second round Eddie threw an illegal knee which resulted in the fight being a no contest, opportunity once again slip away from Dustin, but when the crowd starting booing Eddie, Dustin of all man was the one who stepped up and talked for him.
"Hey!!! Don't boo this man, this guy's a champion, this guy fought all over the world, I got nothing but respect for this guy" - Dustin Poirier post fight interview against Eddie Alvarez
In the next three fights Dustin will fight nothing but killers, Anthony Pettis (former champ), Justin Gaethje (former interim champ, former BMF champ), and revenge on Eddie Alvarez (former champ) in the rematch. Due to the champion Khabib suspended, UFC needed an interim title match, and the chance for Dustin to finally shine came, his opponent was the featherweight champion, a man that is he had beaten before, Max Holloway. Max was on a 13-fight winning streak and was a dominant champion in featherweight, the old foes met once more, this time with a title on the line. The fight went the whole 25 minutes, an absolute war between the two. The dream does come true, after the twelve-year journey, Dustin can finally call himself the champ.
"I feel like I'm in a dream right now, I just want to dedicate this fight to my wife, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have been here, there was days when I went home busted and broken, and she would believe in me when I didn't believe in myself, this is her belt as much it is mine, I wouldn't have been here with out her. I love you Jolie" - Dustin Poirier post fight interview
"I want to make people believe in themselves, I want to give people a reason to fight, a reason to cheer, and a reason to celebrate" - Dustin Poirier on his win for the interim title
Dustin will eventually fight with the actual champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, to unify the belt, Khabib ended his career with a perfect record of 29-0, losing only two rounds in his entire career, the perfect record was almost broken when Dustin locked in a guillotine on him, though eventual he did get out, but that was the closest he has even been to a lost, Dustin understands that with Khabib being the champion, there is practically no chance of becoming the champ, and even consider retiring.
Dustin came back in 2020 getting a win over fellow top contender, Dan hooker, in an absolute war, then seek his revenge on the man who beat him seven years ago, the biggest star in the UFC, Conor Mcgregor, though with all the people doubting him against Dustin, Dustin is no longer the young and emotional fighter back in 2013, He defeated Conor twice finishing the trilogy and finish his revenge that happened seven years ago.
Dustin then got another shot at the title but lost the chance once again to Charles Oliveira. It was clear that Dustin no longer was in love with fighting, the once young and hungry fight was no longer there, but he would then get a win over another top contender Michael Chandler, after the win UFC decided to schedule a fight that would ignite the fire inside Dustin again, a fight against one of the most violent man in UFC history, a man that he has already beaten once, Justin Gaethje, due to both fighters being one of the most entertaining fighters in the organization, UFC let them fought for the BMF (worst mf) belt, Dustin ended up losing again, with his last three fights being 1-2, it is highly unlikely he will even fight for the title again, he knows that's the road back to the title will be long, so he will just be accepting fights that interest him, his next fight turns out to be a rising star, a man that everyone is saying will be the future champ, a man that was in the French special forces, Benoit Saint-Denis. Dustin somehow, in some way, still gets doubted even after years of being at the top. Dustin had to remind them, getting a second-round highlight reel KO'd over the rising star. After Khabib retired, Charles Oliveira became the champion, but not for long because Khabib's training partner and good friend, Islam Makhachev, entered the picture and became champ. The rematch between Charles and Islam was supposed to happen, but due to Charles's injury during training, the next in line was Justin Gaethje, although he was the rightful man to be in line for the title, he did not want to wait, decided to depend on his BMF belt against the featherweight Max Holloway, Holloway ended up putting a masterful performance KOing Justin in the last second. With all these things happening the only man that hasn't faced the champion is Dustin.
Dustin knows this will be his last chance at the belt if he does accept the fight because he is already 36 and can't be fighting for much longer, he decides to accept the fight because he believes it is destiny that landed him this opportunity, with the fight maybe being his last in might, everyone although doubt his chance against the champion but all supported him, Dustin for the first time walked out with the song Diamond by Rihanna, with the crowd singing he enjoyed the moment that may well be his last. The fight began making the unstoppable Islam look human by hurting him, Dustin was giving everything he had, but unfortunately in the last round, he was caught by a submission and lost the fight.
Whether or not he decides to retire, he is already a legend in the sport, although never won the undisputed championships, he is the people's champion. Since the Pettis fight, Dustin has been auctioning his fight gears to raise money for his hometown Lafayette, the amount of work he had put in to help out his community and his never-give-up personality have gained him the most people's support, he will forever be a champion in many people's eyes.