Mailbag: How tough should fight fans be on Dustin Poirier after drunken airport arrest?
Former UFC fighter Dustin Poirier had a bad weekend at the airport, and the world got to see it, thanks to the magic of police body cameras. So now what?
Plus, what should Justin Gaethje do to maximize his time with the UFC lightweight title late in his career? And how exactly did Floyd Mayweather Jr. manage to blow all that money?
All that and more in this week’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.
@LCombatsports: How much condemnation should Dustin Poirier receive for his unacceptable behavior and language? I appreciate your insight.
The sad irony is that Dustin Poirier will take way more criticism for something like this than, say, Conor McGregor or Jon Jones would. That’s because we expect no better from them. Honestly, getting arrested for being a drunk jerk at the airport wouldn’t even be in the top three worst things either of them have done. But we thought so highly of Poirier, which means there’s further for him to fall after something like this.
Obviously, that was a very bad look. Being verbally abusive to airline staff, trying to fight a cop who comes to help, then the added use of a racial slur? Yeah, that’s bad. Poirier seems to realize that, and he’s at least saying the right things about wanting to get help to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
I’m optimistic about his future. Poirier has always seemed like a bright guy who’s capable of learning from his mistakes. Few people are their best selves when under the influence, and the transition to the retired life can be a rough time for a lot of fighters, who may find themselves self-medicating to fill that void.
I think a lot about something Chael Sonnen told me about why retiring from this sport is so hard. So much of your life is lived inside the gym, he said. And the other people you train with, they’re usually your closest friends. Once you don’t need to be on the mats every day, you lose your social life as well as your occupation as well as your sense of self. You’re no longer Dustin Poirier the UFC fighter. Suddenly you’re just Dustin, and then it’s up to you to figure out who that is and how he fills his days.
It seems Poirier wasn’t making the best choices about that here, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy. He’s set a positive example for so many fighters in so many other ways. Maybe this is his chance to show them that redemption is possible.
@PhotoAmy33: I’d love to know your thoughts on the UFC’s responsibility to fighters AFTER their careers are over (example DP) Should the UFC step in and offer help for mental health, addiction, etc.
What the UFC should offer is money, in the form of ongoing health insurance and a pension plan. That’s the real responsibility I think the UFC owes to these fighters, the same as the NFL owes it to its players. These people sacrifice their bodies for the sport that makes the suits rich. The least they can do is lay some of that money by to care for these guys when the bill for all that damage starts coming due.
That’s not to say it would have prevented the Poirier incident. Health insurance can pay for stuff like rehab or counseling, but it can’t help you realize that you need it. That part is the responsibility of the fighters themselves. But the UFC is going to be showing Poirier fights and highlights for years to come — and profiting from that. Fighters should get something for that. But, like with the NFL, it’s up to them to force that issue. The NFL owners didn’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, and neither will the UFC.
@screenplaya: Should Gaethje relinquish the belt, let the youngsters fight for it, and instead beat up Charles and Conor for legacy + money + funsies?
Interesting that you listed “legacy” first. How exactly would Justin Gaethje be furthering his legacy by vacating the UFC lightweight title without even trying to defend it? We already saw how he did against Charles Oliveira back in 2022. I’m not convinced he’d do any better in 2026.
I do think that there is a semi-realistic scenario in which Gaethje could keep the belt and fight McGregor, though. If McGregor beats Max Holloway next month, I could see the UFC once again throwing rankings out the window in order to make a Gaethje-McGregor title fight. Maybe the biggest obstacle (even bigger than the odds against McGregor returning after a long layoff and a broken leg to beat a workhorse like Holloway) is that McGregor would almost certainly have to sign a contract extension first. No way the UFC gives him a fight like that if there’s a chance he rides off into the sunset of free agency immediately after.
There’s also the question of McGregor making 155 pounds again. He did, uh, add some bulk since the last time we saw him. (Who knew that packing on upper body mass was essential to healing a fractured leg?) But if I’m Gaethje and there’s a chance I could wait around and fight McGregor instead of, say, Arman Tsarukyan? Yeah, I’m in no hurry to rush back to the cage.
@thomasm62224263: Hokit going real Hokit sort of takes the sting out of the nonsense, if the nonsense had any sting, no?
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but nothing about Josh Hokit’s whole deal makes me any more interested in seeing him fight. If anything it only makes me feel gross about it, and it’s all so unnecessary.
He’s a young, athletic heavyweight! He’s 10-0, and the only time he’s gone the distance was in the rare heavyweight fight that lasted three rounds but was still super fun to watch! Maybe if he was just another bantamweight in a crowded field I’d understand why he feels he needs to act the fool to stand out. But an undefeated heavyweight who’s actually good? Bro, you do not need to be doing all this.
@jmprobus: What the hell happened with the doctor being overruled, after Topuria failed the eye test? Been watching since 2004 and I’ve never seen a doctor straight up get vetoed for a stoppage. Feels like nobody is talking about it, it’s incredibly fishy & Ilia even said “I can’t see”.
Some rules about who has the power to stop a fight and when can vary depending on the commission in charge. Typically, only the referee has that ability. The doctor can offer a recommendation, but the ref isn’t obliged to follow it.
Especially with eye stuff, I think sometimes referees feel like they should give it a second to see if a fighter’s vision improves. The old idea that the fight must be ended the second we hear the phrase “I can’t see” does seem a little overly reactive. We’ve seen fighters get poked in the eye and say, in the immediate aftermath, that they can’t see. Then after a minute or two their vision clears up and they’re good to go. So I don’t think those should be magic words that instantly end a fight.
Ilia Topuria did say that he wanted to keep fighting, so referee Marc Goddard made the decision to let him. I don’t think that was a reckless or bad decision, even if it does feel weird to bring the doctor in and then essentially tell him: Thanks for the input, but we’re going to ignore you. Now go sit down .
@JohnRayMMA: Floyd Mayweather jr. made an estimated $1 billion during his fighting career, how does one blow that much money? Especially when he doesn’t drink or do drugs!
All indications are that Floyd Mayweather managed this feat by trying really, really hard at it over a number of years. My favorite Mayweather-spends-irresponsibly story, which surfaced around the time that he fought McGregor, was relayed by a member of his vast entourage.
According to this guy, Mayweather and friends had gone to Atlanta for a fun weekend of strip clubs and relaxation. You know, like you do. Not content to simply rent a car for a few days, they went straight to a car dealership and bought one. A really expensive one. But then the weekend was over and it was time to come home, so they just left it in the airport parking lot. It wasn’t until weeks later when someone even thought to be like, hey, what ever happened to that Benz we had in Atlanta?
So no, a person like that was probably not tucking cash away in a Roth IRA. Still, I get annoyed when people point to such reckless spending as a reason why we shouldn’t worry about low fighter pay elsewhere. Yes, many pro athletes throw away vast sums of money. But then, so does Dana White. That’s not a reason not to give it to them. When they’re the ones the fans are paying to see, the money is theirs to waste.
@MrEd315: What should North American sports fanbases take and learn from all of these visiting World Cup nations?
For starters, how about taking it as a reminder that this stuff is supposed to be fun? One thing that’s been so refreshing about the World Cup fans from all over the world is their infectious enthusiasm. I mean, did you see the Norway fans at the New York Mets game? Those are people who know how to have a good time anywhere, and without being complete jerks to everyone else. North American fans could learn from that example. Maybe we should also start picking up after ourselves as well as the Japanese fans do.
@HarbaughAndrew: Is Van-Kape the best action fight to make in the UFC today? If not, what would you make the argument for?
You almost can’t make a bad fight among ranked flyweights these days. It’s an embarrassment of athletic riches at 125 pounds. I still think we need to see Joshua Van and Alexandre Pantoja settle their unfinished business, but Manel Kape should be next for the winner.
@ChrisKirk_ASP: What are the Under/Over odds for Aspinall being stripped & Gane promoted to Undisputed* Champion within 6 months?
Would you parlay that with White immediately proclaiming Gane the ‘Greatest HW in history’?
I’m concerned for Tom Aspinall’s trajectory at this point. The eye stuff is bad enough. Ending up as a pawn in this war between Dana White and Eddie Hearn only makes it worse.
Hopefully Aspinall can get cleared to fight before the year is out. If not, I think the UFC will definitely strip him of the title and promote Ciryl Gane. Which, just to be clear, would make him the third consecutive person to be named undisputed heavyweight champ without defeating the existing heavyweight champ. That’s a troubling and frankly annoying pattern.
@pmsdeadandalive: what happens now w/ pereira and herb dean? will a commission dare to assign dean to one of pereria’s future fights? they can’t, right? but it feels like a dangerous precedent and slippery slope to “reward” a fighter for complaining publicly about a ref. is this cruz/peterson 2.0?
A fighter can usually request that a specific ref not be assigned to work future fights, and if he has a real reason then those are typically honored. It might get weird though if Alex Pereira starts beefing with multiple refs and the list gets longer and longer. You know that thing about how if you run into multiple a-holes every day, you might be the a-hole? It works the same with fighters and refs.
