Dustin Poirier spoke to FanSided ahead of his bout with Dan Hooker.
Dustin Poirier has been fighting professionally for 11 years, with nine of those years spent navigating the shark tanks that are the UFC’s featherweight and lightweight divisions. His last five opponents have all held or currently hold UFC gold. When Poirier faces the surging lightweight contender Dan Hooker on June 27, he’ll be returning from the longest layoff of his career — a mere nine months.
In a sport where contract disputes and catastrophic injuries often lead to year-plus stretches of inactivity, particularly at the level at which Poirier competes, his consistency is remarkable. Following an unsuccessful bid to capture Khabib Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title in September 2019, Poirier underwent surgery to repair a chronic hip injury, meaning weeks of physical inactivity for the typically hyper-active Poirier.
The time away from daily training proved to be a significant challenge for Poirier.
“It was tough on me, man,” Poirier told FanSided in an exclusive interview. “It was a mental test and I believe I’m stronger because of it, but it was tough. The recovery, the sitting on the sidelines… I couldn’t put weight on my hip for eight weeks. It was the biggest surgery I’ve ever had. Physical therapy and recovery was tough. It really pushed me. It really showed me once again who I am.”
For a man that’s made fighting and preparing to fight a part of his daily routine for over a decade, inactivity was harder than the rigors of training.
“Most of my adult life, all of my adult life, I’ve been fighting,” Poirier said, “since I was 18. It’s what I do. Any time things happen or any time I lose a fight, I just get back to working. I get back to training and work harder, and this time I couldn’t.”
Dustin Poirier says the layoff might have been what he needed
Unable to return to immediately to the training room following his defeat to Nurmagomedov, Poirier found a new perspective during his forced downtime.
“[I] spent a lot of time with my family, watched a lot of fights, and actually found gratitude in where I’m at in life. It kind of gave me a different perspective of fighting and what really matters in my life. My family is healthy. I was on the road back to recovery. Life is good, man. I have so much to be thankful for. When you’re running and gunning and your foot is on the gas pedal all the time, it’s hard to realize that sometimes, so sitting back was a breath of fresh air. As much as it was a burden for me, it was maybe needed.”
In between repeat viewings of ‘Frozen’ with his daughter, Poirier also used the time away to study his craft, watching hours of fights.
“I learn things from watching them,” Poirier said. “I watched a lot of guys get their hands raised. I watched a lot of guys make mistakes and lose fights, so just sitting back and watching and analyzing things, I get a lot better. I’m sure every athlete in their sport, when they sit back and watch hours of competition, you get better.”
Naturally, Poirier’s film study included Hooker. Like Poirier, Hooker is a former featherweight that has found renewed career success at lightweight. In his last bout, Hooker earned a mildly controversial split decision over Paul Felder in the main event of UFC Auckland.
Respectful of his opponent’s skills, Poirier thinks Hooker did enough to earn that decision and, importantly, was able to learn more about his opponent in the process.
“I thought he squeaked it out; I thought he won,” Poirier said of Hooker’s win over Felder. “He showed he can go five rounds. He showed he can stick to a gameplan. He showed the main event pressure in his hometown wasn’t too much, so I believe he showed a lot in that fight.
“He uses his range well, he stays on the outside. He listens and he’s very patient, and that’s very important in fighting, and fighting at this level, it’s very important.”
However complimentary of Hooker’s skillset he may be, Poirier is, naturally, confident in his own abilities. And although he is coming off the biggest defeat of his career, Poirier is also coming off the longest layoff of his career, and he believes the hiatus has made him a mentally stronger fighter. It’s with that mentality that Poirier expects to finish Hooker.
“I really think I can knock this guy out and I really think I can submit this guy. I don’t know which one of those is going to happen first, but I see myself getting my hand raised Saturday and leaving here victorious.”