MMA Fighting - Dustin Poirier Details Getting Call For Islam Makhachev Fight, Talks UFC Return, Francis Ngannou, More

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

Dustin Poirier joins MMA Fighting's Mike Heck to discuss getting the call to possibly step in to face Islam Makhachev on short notice at UFC 294, finding out Alexander Volkanovski got the title shot, how the UFC 294 main event played out, when he hopes to return, UFC 300 being enticing, Francis Ngannou's performance against Tyson Fury, attending this year's Mr. Olympia event, partnering up with Celcius, their new Essentials line, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original, The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever.

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. Happy to be joined by the former UFC interim lightweight champion, Dustin Poir.

A lot going on for the Diamond. As a record, he's out at the annual Mr. Olympia event, teaming up with the fine folks at Celsius, who has a new essentials line coming up. We'll probably learn more about that in a little bit, but let's say hello to Dustin Porre. Dustin, how are you, sir? Good. How are you doing? I'm doing great.

A lot to discuss. I'm staying busy over here. Yes, it is actually a few days after Halloween, and I'm a dad myself. I was dressed like a pizza for Halloween, but the Porier has just crushed the hex in the Halloween costume department. The Adams family, well done, my man.

You guys are on fire. Hey, thank you, man. I would love to take credit for that, but as always, it's my wife. She planned, she ordered everything, planned it. And I just did what she said. It's smart man, smart man. Yeah, exactly.

I know what that's like. So as I mentioned earlier, you have a partnership at Celsius. It's created some good and really interesting opportunities now attending Mr. Olympia this week. And I've been told that when you go out there for the first time, you sort of think it's just this one day event. It's a bodybuilding competition. And then you watch it and then you go home. But this is actually like a full week.

thing, almost like the bodybuilding world's version of international fight week to some extent. Like what has the experience been like out there this week for you? You know, I got in last night. So far, it's been pretty cool. Um, you know, at this hotel I'm at, it's a resort here in Orlando, like close to SeaWorld and stuff like that. So it's really busy, but I'm seeing fit people walking around everywhere. I did a workout this morning at the gym. and there was a female bodybuilders in there you know and I've obviously I know what bodybuilding is but I don't get to interact with bodybuilders that often so to see the size of some of these women and to see the size of some of these men is pretty impressive man what are you looking forward to to doing out

in Orlando during this weekend's event um hanging out with the Celsius team promoting the new essentials line I use one this morning as a pre-workout before I got a lift in and uh shaking hands meeting people That's about it, man. I'm just excited to be here. Well, we'll get back to the essential side at the moment. But as far as Dustin Porre, the fighter goes, we last saw you compete in July,

UFC 291 against Justin Gaci. Didn't go your way. You spoke to my colleague Ariel Hawani shortly after the fight. You were very open and honest about how you felt about things. But what has life been like for Dustin Porre the fighter since that night in Salt Lake City?

For the fighter, you know, I've been busy. I have buddies who fought in Ireland under the Bellator banner and I have guys back home who are always training in Louisiana. So I'm always in the fight scene. You know, I'm always training. I'm always around fighting. But as for me, I've kind of taken a step back and just seeing what opens up, seeing what makes sense when the UFC calls me.

You know, that's about it, man. Just stay in the shape, staying low in weight and trying to remain a student like I've always have. You mentioned waiting for the opportunity to arise on that phone rings. And there was a bit of drama in your division a few weeks back because it's like, Mokachev, as you know, was supposed to fight Charles Oliver in the rematch of UFC 294. Oliver gets the cut, scratch from the fight. We find out Alexander Volcanowski stepping in on 12 days notice.

And you tweeted, I believe the day after that announcement was made that you were called about it and you said yes. And on top of that, Hunter Campbell told Makramundi of BSPN that not only did you say yes, that you were essentially bugging him wanting to know whether or not you got it. So is that accurate from your perspective? like what was that time frame like for you when you got the call to when you found a Volcanovsky got the fight? Yeah, that's exactly accurate.

I think it was 12 days, 11 days before the event. The thing is, dude, I just land. So I have a condo in South Florida. And the day they called me, I had just landed maybe two and a half hours in Florida before the call to check on my condo. And I stayed there for like maybe five days to get some training with the team there because I haven't seen them in a while. So I get back to my condo.

I'm unpacking my bags and my phone rings. I see it's Hunter. And, you know, I'm all jacked up on Celsius, dude. I answer the phone. Let's go. I said, what a perfect timing. This is how life works. You know, I just landed in Florida.

My whole team is here. My coaches are in town. This happened for a reason. He asked me my weight and I could make the weight in 11 days, no problem. And I thought that was it. That's why the next day, he told me give him one day. So the next day I didn't hear back. I'm like, hey, bro.

I said, yes, let's go. You know, I got my team here. Let's book these flights. I need to get out there ASAP, and he kept quiet for a while. And then all the news started breaking, you know, but he did tell me, he didn't tell me, hey, you're the guy. He asked me if I would do it. I said yes.

He told me to give him one day. And I guess he was waiting on Alex to commit. I'm sorry, Alexander to commit. So you feel like if Volkadovsky was like, nah, can't do it, you would have been the guy? I'm not sure. I mean, they called me for a reason. It seems like that, you know, but I don't know.

We saw what happened in that fight. Machachev knocks Volcanovsky out in the first round, beautiful head kick and just swarmed on them. As someone who did get the call and you really wanted the chance to fight, Makachov, you feel like everything lined up in a weird way like it was meant to be, even on 12 days notice. How did you react to the way that fight ended? You know, I thought it was going to be a lot more competitive fight.

It sucks, you know, because I've been in that position. It sucks to see a guy go out there. But also, he wasn't fully prepared, you know. he was taking a chance to be great and those things happen. And they can happen when you're fully prepared. You know, it's happened to me. But to see a guy go out there in front of the world and not get to actually compete and get into the actual fight, you know, that sucks. But that can happen to anyone and that's fighting and that's why we love it, man, you know.

So much going on in your division right now, as always, with all of Aaron Gachee, sort of in the running for title shots. And then there's Chandler and Connor maybe or maybe not. that fight happens depending on what day it is. We found up B'Neil Daryush and Armand Sarukian are headlining December 2nd. Dan Hooker, Bobby Green, five-rounder on that same card. There's guys like Matush Gamrott. Where do you believe you fit in this crazy lightweight puzzle heading into 2024 right now? I think I fit where I have for the last decade.

You know, I think I've been a top 10, top five fighter. And my track record proves that for the last 10 years plus, you know, I came into the UFC. my debut was against the number one contender at the time. You know, so I'm never far away from the biggest fights possible. And I train every day like it, and I go about my life like it, and that's just what it is. When would you like to return? Perfect world. UFC calls you and says, Dustin, when do you want to fight?

We'll make it happen. Is there a time frame, an opponent that stands out? Like, what are you thinking right now, November 2023? right now my current mindset i'd fight in six weeks i'd fight in eight weeks if if the fight made sense and i was excited about it but other than that i think uh you know a chance to fight on ufc 300's a big deal i've been in the ufc since ufc 125 and i missed 200 you know i know i'm not going to be around for 400 so it's kind of a of a cool opportunity if it comes together but I honestly have no clue of my return date or time frame,

but that USC 300 kind of is enticing. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about what Francis and Ghana did this past Saturday as we record. I know you enjoy boxing in the sweet science, but Francis comes through in a big way, arguably beat Tyson Fury in a freaking boxing match. She knocks him down. What did you make of Francis's performance

and sending this crazy ripple effect throughout the combat sports world. It's awesome to see because, you know, Tyson Fury is arguably one of the best heavyweights to ever walk to earth. And to see a mixed martial artist who had short time in his mixed martial arts career, it's not like he's been doing it since he was 16 or 15 or 14 like these kids are now. He started later in life. And to see him go in there and not only compete, but arguably win the fight is incredible. I mean, that's a win for mixed martial arts.

shows that we are well-versed in all aspects of combat, and we know that. It was a win. Did you think he won, though? Like when you scored it in your mind, did you think you won? So I didn't get to watch it live, and I still haven't got to watch it and score it round by round. I was keeping up with the updates, but I was actually walking with my daughter in a neighborhood trick-or-treating.

They did it the weekend before Halloween, so it wouldn't be on a school night. So I was kind of caught up, you know, living dad life. Yeah, I know what that's all about. A couple more things. What can you tell us about this Celsius Essentials line? Seems like a good thing. Seems like you took a pre-workout in a sense before you worked out today. It seems like it's working for you.

That's going to be dropping soon. What can you tell us? Do you have a little preview? What can you share about it? First of all, with Celsius, if you're a fan of Celsius, you know the flavors are great. But it has a little bit more caffeine than their normal Celsius energy drink. It's a little bit bigger. They have amino acids.

it's a great pre-workout, you know. And I use pre-workouts. So now I have Celsius to fall back on. The thing is with Celsius, like I use Celsius in the morning or I use Celsius before jiu-jitsu practice and things like that. But when I lift weights or do strength and condition where I'm sprinting and stuff,

I always use some kind of pre-workout. I need a little more kick. And this here has 270 milligrams of caffeine. Like I said, amino acids. So this is my new pre-workout now. And how long have you in Celsius had this partnership together? has it been like? We've probably been working together for three years, around three years.

It's been great. You know, good thing for me at training Coconut Creek and their home office is located in Boko-Ritone, which is 15, 20-minute drive from my home gym at American Top Team. So I have a great relationship with those guys and girls. And when I'm in camp, I can go to the office and see everybody, shake hands and find out what's coming up. You know, honestly, it's been one of the best partnerships I've had. Last thing, Dustin, I truly appreciate the time a year from now, November 2024.

If we're having this conversation again about your fighting career, what do you think we're talking about? What goals, what benchmarks do you believe you'll have checked off this time next year? You know, I don't, I'm not a guy who tries to call the future, but when I fight, when I do get back in there, it's going to be another crazy fight. Something crazy is going to happen. and I just want to keep stacking up these wins. Keep stacking up these longevity records. I've been in the UFC a long time now. And that's it, man.

Continued the growth, remain a student, and we'll see what the future holds. Thank you, Dustin. Big thanks to Celsius as well for setting this all up. Enjoy the rest of your time in Orlando and Mr. Olympia and looking forward to seeing what is next for you inside the Octagon, possibly at UFC 300. I think that would be awesome.

Thank you very much, man. Thank you. Fox Media Podcast Network.