For Dustin Poirier, retirement has not always been as far away as it may have appeared to the public.
On Saturday night, he is expected to walk away from the UFC, an organization in which he has become a premiere superstar in.
While he may not have showed outward signs of slowing, “The Diamond” has been considering shutting things down for a while now.
Former MMA fighter and current ESPN analyst Alan Jouban, who is close friends with Poirier, joined “The LohDown” on Thursday to provide some context.
“This is something that has been weighing on (Poirier) for a while. He has been telling me for a couple years now that he only has a couple (fights) left… The problem is he has kind of been having one foot out of the door, but every time he’s gotten a foot out the door, an amazing opportunity has presented itself that was too big to turn down,” Jouban said.
While Poirier is no doubt locked in on Saturday night’s bout, he has given some thought to what retirement is going to feel like. However, he is not sure what his emotions will be like on Sunday morning.
“I don’t know, I’ve got to go through it before I talk about it… I can say there will be some relief… I’m still going to train, I’m still going to stay fit, but I don’t have to compete at the highest level. I don’t have that hanging over me anymore. It might be good, it might be bad, maybe I need that hanging over me. I don’t know. I’ve got to find out,” Poirier mentioned.
The Acadiana native has always stayed true to his home city and state, to the point that he was adamant his final fight take place in “The Boot.” While that may have seemed an obvious choice, it was more difficult to pull off than one might imagine.
“The UFC hasn’t been back to New Orleans since 2015… They weren’t coming back. The only reason they are here is because of The Diamond… They had to jump through hoops and pull a lot of strings to make this happen, and they got it done,” Jouban said about the process of booking this fight in the Crescent City.
With all of the conversation about his career, legacy, and retirement, Poirier knows how special this victory would be.
“It would be huge. It would be a dream come true,” Poirier said after a heavy sigh. “I provided a beautiful life for my family chasing this dream, and I’ve learned a lot about myself… Going out with that belt in Louisiana… (It would be) a storybook ending.”
Poirier will have his chance to write that storybook ending on Saturday night. He takes on Max Holloway in the Main Event of UFC 318 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.