UFC fighter Drew Dober has spoken out in support of Dustin Poirier after the star admitted that he was struggling with retirement after getting arrested for being drunk and causing trouble at an airport in Atlanta, Georgia at the weekend.
“I need help,” Poirier had admitted in a subsequent statement to his fans on Instagram after being bailed, and that struck a chord with the 37-year-old Dober, who confesses that he too worries about how he’ll cope when it comes his turn to hang up his gloves.
“Some of us need to fight,” Dober said in a video posted on social media. “My thoughts go out to Dustin Poirier … But this is why I fear retirement, because some of us have found martial arts, found fighting, and constantly compete because we need it. We need it internally to make ourselves a better person. With our goals of just being better individuals, better family men, just better for others. We need fighting to keep ourselves straight.
“This is why I fear my retirement as well. I share that mentality as well with Dustin, and the fact that fighting has kept me out of making bad decisions, and being a better father, being a better husband, being a better son, being a better family man.
“When we don’t have fighting, and we have so much free time, I think boredom is one of the most dangerous attributes for a man. And when you’re constantly pursuing a goal, working toward something great, when it’s all gone and that boredom kicks in, it’s hard to keep your head on straight, and it’s hard to act like you have been.”
Dober is coming off back-to-back wins in the UFC, but is currently out-of-action due to a recent hernia surgery, and admits that even having a few months off from focusing on his fight career has been a challenge.
“Since my surgery — and I’ve had six weeks off — I, personally, have been dealing with something similar,” Dober revealed. “Been a little bit more intoxicated than I typically am and just making bad decisions. This is just the aspect that fighters carry. What makes us great fighters causes damage to us when we retire. And we see with Conor McGregor and Mike Tyson and all those great fighters, the mentality that brought us to the pinnacle and the highest point of this career, will be the aspect that damages us when we retire, and it’s all over.
“My thoughts go out to Dustin Poirier, and any other fight that finds themself in this position of boredom and not finding something to work toward. I hope that when it’s all over for me, I have you guys and these videos and social media and broadcasting to keep my head on straight, so I can keep on improving.”
