Dustin Poirier retired after a unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318 last weekend, and his long-time coach Mike Brown believes the outcome of the back-and-forth fight helped confirm that it was the right call to hang up his gloves.
“It was the right time,” Brown told MMA Fighting. “Maybe in some ways had he won, it might bother him more to want to keep fighting. Even thought he was out, he was like maybe I should keep going, maybe that would be in his head. Right? Like I’m not sure. Maybe it was good for him that he had an exciting fight but didn’t get the ‘W.’ Maybe it was good for his psyche to accept that it’s time to move on.
“Because maybe had he knocked Max out or something, maybe it would bother him that he’s retiring too early or something like this. He’s obviously one of the best lightweights of all time. His resume is incredible and all that. But it was time. It’s good for him. He’s made a great life for himself.”
With that being said, Brown went on to admit that early on in the fight he feared that a nightmare situation was potentially unfolding after Holloway dropped Poirier in the opening round.
“It was scary as hell,” Brown admits. “I thought oh no, it was like worst-case scenario. He got hurt bad, he dropped and now all of a sudden he’s mounted. Almost like a body triangle, almost the worst situation you could be in. It’s like oh no, how does he get out of this? This is not what we want. But somehow like he does, he survived it, battled out, got back to his feet, the place went nuts. Then he dropped Max shortly after in the next round. So it brought some big drama to the event and made for an exciting show.
“Had he got stopped in the first, that would have been terrible. Then, we’d be singing a different tune. We’d all be not so content with what went down. It would be a nightmare. But it was a great fight. I thought it was a competitive fight. In the end, Max won but I thought it was a competitive fight and Dustin had his opportunities. Had he done a few things differently or landed a couple of shots, the outcome could have been different.”
In the end Brown feels that there’s absolutely no shame to losing to a fighter of Holloway’s calibre, who he’s beaten twice in the past, and so Poirier can move on from his fighting career with his head held high while he’s still in good health.
“[Max Holloway is] really also one of the best fighters in the world, a legend, a Hall of Famer. So it wasn’t an easy fight,” Brown said. “[Dustin] challenged himself. He didn’t want an easy fight. He wanted a guy that was going to push him and be a tough fight. That’s what he got. Kudos to him for wanting to push himself.
“I’m happy that he got out unhurt, unscathed and with no major damage. 99-percent are forced out. Very few do it like Dustin did and picked his own path and chose his time to go.”
Of course the most important thing is how Poirier himself feels about it, and judging from his post-fight interviews it does seem as if ‘The Diamond’ is very much at peace with his decision, appearing to have no hard feelings about bowing out of the sport on a loss.
