UFC Legend Dustin Poirier: I Lost My Mind. I’ll Never Let It Happen Again.
7/6/20261 hr 33 min
UFC legend Dustin Poirier reveals why he can't bring himself to watch the arrest video, the paid deals he's already lost, his vow to never drink again, and why the hardest fight of his life is happening off the mat.
Dustin Poirier (“The Diamond”) is a retired UFC lightweight fighter with a 30-10 record, best known as the only man to knock out Conor McGregor in MMA. He founded The Good Fight Foundation with his wife, Jolie, in 2018 and now appears periodically as a desk analyst on UFC broadcasts. In June 2026, he was arrested for public intoxication at an Atlanta airport, after which he shared that he’s struggling with alcohol.
He explains:
◼ What losing your career identity feels like, and how to rebuild when the fight is over
◼ How a childhood of poverty, detention and no father figure shaped the man he became
◼ Why elite athletes often fall apart when they retire, and what to do about it
◼ What going to therapy taught him about the pain he didn't know he was carrying
◼ The mental shift that turned losing to Conor McGregor into beating him
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSteven Bartlett· Host0:00
I've had many leading experts on this show, including Matthew Walker, and they've all said the same thing about sleep. They've said it's the biggest positive investment you can make in your own performance. You can have the best strategy in the world, but if you're consistently tired, poor decision-making will follow and eventually cause other things to fail in your life. So if you're looking to optimize your recovery, you should start looking at what you're sleeping on. Our sponsor, Helix, makes high-quality mattresses tailored to your body. It doesn't matter if you run hot, sleep on your side, or need something firm, Helix has a mattress for you. And I asked them recently to send one to a member of my team, and Juan received it. And we travel a lot, so when he's home, quality sleep really matters. And he told me he's getting the best sleep of his life. And the data backs it up, with eighty-two percent of people in a Helix study saying they saw an increase in their deep sleep. And with a one hundred and twenty-night trial, you've got four months to prove it to yourself. You can get twenty-seven percent off at helixsleep.com/diary. That's helixsleep.com/diary.
Dustin Poirier· Guest0:59
I've had bouts with depression throughout my career, but man, when it hits me, it's bad.
Steven Bartlett· Host1:03
Which kind of brings us to the airport incident.
Dustin Poirier· Guest1:06
Yeah. I really messed up. Man, [beep] you and [beep] her and [beep] her.
Steven Bartlett· Host1:09
Look what happened.
Dustin Poirier· Guest1:10
So it's Father's Day, and I felt good in the morning. I spent the morning with my kids, but then as I was traveling to work, I felt that feeling again. It's like a cloud in my head that I just can't get out from under. So I started drinking. I'll fight you right now. No, I don't wanna fight, bro. And my emotions got the best of me. Bro, relax. Relax. Relax, bro. Relax. Got arrested. This guy's