When Dustin Poirier changed divisions after having memory loss during weight-cut
Dustin Poirier reveals the fight incident that made him move up a weight class. He says it was a near-death experience.
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Dustin Poirier (Image Courtesy - MMA Junkie)
Former champion Dustin Poirier once competed in the Featherweight division in his younger days. Poirier is among the best Lightweight fighters to compete in the UFC. He is known for his relentless pace and boxing skills as a fighter. The Louisiana native recorded eight wins and three losses in his days as a Featherweight. Poirier moved to the Lightweight division due to a death scare for extreme weight cutting. He revealed the incident to Joe Rogan on his podcast.
Dustin Poirier said, “When I fought Cub Swanson in London, England, I took it on short notice. I just won a fight before, and it was right around Christmas. So I was eating. I don’t know (how I made it). I almost died. I feel like weigh-ins were like kind of blurry. My memories gone from the weigh-ins.” Dustin went on to say that he cut almost 45 pounds to make weight for the fight. However, he lost the fight to Swanson via a decision.
After the challenging weight-cutting process, Poirier decided to move up to the Lightweight division. Poirier went on a four-fight winning streak before losing to Michael Jonson. Since then, he has had a six-fight winning streak to win the Interim-Lightweight Championship. He failed twice in the bid to win the Undisputed title.
In his title attempts, he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. Khabib dominated Poirier in wrestling sequences and submitted him in the third round. Oliveira struggled with Poirier in the first round. However, in the second round, Oliveira started to use his grappling skills. He choked out Poirier in the third round.
Related: WATCH: Dustin Poirier reacts furiously as stranger inappropriately touches his cauliflower ear
Dustin Poirier criticized Charles Oliveira’s weight miss
Charles Oliveira missed weight for his Championship bout against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. He came in over the weight limit and got stripped of his championship. Dustin Poirier had weight-cutting struggles in the past. However, he did not miss weight for any of his UFC bouts. Poirier criticized Oliveira for missing weight.
He said, “He wasn’t stumbling around. He’s always really lean, and he’s long and tall, so he looks slim. He’s a big guy, but he didn’t look like he needed to be helped. He still had life in his body. He could have, it looked like, tried to lose more weight. It’s a championship fight.”
Oliveira and Poirier fought at UFC 269, with the Brazilian fighter submitting Poirier in the third round. Poirier felt Oliveira appeared fine and should do more to reach the weight limit.
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