As if his impressive UFC
299 victory over Benoit St.
Denis wasn’t message enough, Dustin
Poirier had a few words for UFC CEO Dana White in the immediate
aftermath of the win.
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When an unranked St. Denis called out Poirier last November, “The
Diamond” was initially dismissive of the callout. Poirier was taken
by surprise when the
Ultimate Fighting Championship called him up with the offer and
had to find inner motivation to accept the fight.
An underdog going into his UFC 299 clash against “God of War,”
Poirier struggled in wrestling exchanges in the opening. However,
Louisiana’s finest came from behind to shut St. Denis lights out
with a right hook in the second round.
Having already made a statement with the nature of his win, “The
Diamond” then walked over to the UFC head honcho to share a few
words. While it initially seemed like Poirier was talking to former
U.S. President Donald Trump, Poirier revealed that his message was
for White.
“It looked like I was talking to Trump, I was talking to Dana… I
said ‘Hey, you want me to fight this young motherf—-kers, huh? This
is what happens.’ That’s what I told him,” Poirier said on “The MMA Hour.”
White was all praise for Poirier’s performance, labeling the former
interim lightweight champ a “f—-ing legend.” Poirier also exchanged
some sincere words with St. Denis in the Octagon after their “Fight
of the Night” battle. With a career spanning over a decade and a
half, Poirier is realizing the importance of health much more as he
grows older. While Poirier believes St. Denis has a promising
career ahead, he advised the Frenchman to take ample time to tend
to his health.
“I got to talk to St. Denis a little before we walked out of the
Octagon, too. [Because] we didn’t really get to talk [during] fight
week, it was fight nerves and staring each other down and stuff
like that. So I wanted to just shake his hands and talk to him…Told
him [to] take care of himself, train smart. I said, ‘If you wanna
do this, you’ll be right back where you just were, but take care of
yourself.’ As I get older and having fights like I had with
Gaethje, I just think about what we do, like I respect these guys,
their tenacity for chasing this dream but this is bad for you.”