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Dustin Poirier revealed that he almost gave up on his career years before reaching his peak.
Poirier came on as a guest at The Vault 2021, a conference for entrepreneurs held last month. During his interview with Patrick Bet-David, the MMA superstar revealed he seriously contemplated retiring after his first-round TKO loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 178 in 2014. According to Poirier:
"The first time I fought Conor McGregor... I was close to a title shot, I was ranked in the Top 2 of the world and I went out there and got beat by a guy who's running his mouth and saying all these things. When I got back home I was just like looking in the mirror, saying, 'What am I doing here? What's going on?' I put everything I had into this and I went out there and lost."
Had Poirier gone ahead and retired, he would have faded into obscurity before blossoming into the UFC superstar that he is today. Poirier's perseverance paid off seven years later when he got his revenge on McGregor, scoring consecutive stoppage victories over the Irishman.
Watch Dustin Poirier's interview below:
Dustin Poirier on how Conor McGregor changed him
Dustin Poirier points to his 2014 battle with Conor McGregor as a major turning point in his career. In an interview with ESPN, 'The Diamond' admitted that the Irish megastar's mind games worked on him. According to Poirier, he was so infuriated by McGregor's antics that he fought carelessly and got knocked out.
"I wanted to make the guy pay, you know? I was angry. I remember wanting to fight him at the weigh-in, which is crazy to look back at. I was just in such a weird place in my mind."
Despite suffering the most devastating loss of his career, Poirier claims his UFC 178 loss taught him not to pay attention to what the fans and his opponents were saying about him.
Poirier has since won 12 out of his next 15 fights (1 no-contest). He and is now expected to challenge Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight crown.
