MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer: Matt Brown Offers Dustin Poirier Advice After Recent Arrest Plus How Confident Are We That Conor McGregor Is Fighting at UFC 329?

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

On the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, UFC legend Matt Brown and Damon Martin react to Dustin Poirier’s recent arrest for public drunkenness and the bodycam footage revealed from the arrest. Brown offers Poirier advice after he also retired from the sport and had to find something else to fill the void that fighting always provided. Plus we are now two weeks out from Conor McGregor’s return but are we more or less confident that he’s going to fight this time? All that and more on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer! Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to the fighter versus the writer. I'm Damon Martin. He is UFC legend Matt Brown. And Matt, we are officially less than two weeks away from the return of the notorious Connor allegedly. It's the last UFC event. Obviously on Saturday was the UFC Baku event with Rafael Fazeevi. Your guy, you've been on that train for a while, score a big knockout of a manuel Toro, super impressive.

But now next weekend is July 4th. There's no fights on July 4th. So we are literally technically in like Connor McGregor fight week. It's just a two-week long fight week. Matt, as we sit two weeks out, are you any more or less confident that Connor's going to make that walk? I mean, I guess all the signs are pointing towards he's going to do it. So, I mean, you guess you got to believe, right? But I don't know.

I still don't know. Yeah, that's a good question, man. Like, what do you think? I think Connor knows. I think Connor knows if he drops out of this fight. Like, not saying they would never offer him another one because it's Connor McGregor. but like I think the faith in him would just disappear. Like people wouldn't, I almost say they'll never stop caring because he's a superstar.

I mean, Floyd Mayweather, who apparently is broke now, which is wild, is doing like, he's fighting random bodybuilders and people with the last name Godi and people still tune in. Now, clearly not at the same rate they used to tune in, but people still watch Floyd Mayweather do these crazy exhibitions or whatever. So I think no matter what happens, Connor will always draw an audience, but I think the hardcore fan base is going to be like, all right, he's just not fighting anymore. like it or not that's going to affect his future. So I almost feel like whether he's banged up or broken toe or whatever, I feel like Conner's going to make that walk because he knows like this is, that was his last chance because like I said,

he'll always get fights, but the last chance for people to really get hyped and like believe in him, if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, I guess it makes sense that he would go fight finally. I mean, it's been forever and, you know, the fight doesn't, the fighter inside of him doesn't leave, you know,

so like he definitely wants to, but, you know, it's interesting with the whole Dustin Porre situation coming up. And that what I'm sure we'll be talking about here. You know, Connor, like, kind of already went through that maybe, right? Like dealing with not being a fighter. And maybe he just decided, like, I don't like this. I don't like this life. You know, I got to go fight.

I got to have something in front of me. I got to have a date on the calendar, man. I need something to push me. And so then the question becomes, you know what happens after the fight right win or lose right i mean if he wins right we probably assume that he fights again and you know probably for a title most likely and um which would be just engagey which would be a big fight it'd be a fun fight too but if he loses which i'm picking um i imagine uh max has got to be a favorite in this fight right he's got to be his favorite yeah he's

i think he opens like a four to one favorite i think he's a three to one favorite now which Well, I understand. Like, Conner's money. Yeah, three to a while is proper. Connor's not often an underdog, so it's like, we're going to bet on that now. And so the lines come down a little bit. When it opened, I think it was like 425 to like 300 for Max. It was pretty heavy on Max's side.

Yeah. I wouldn't expect it to be at that high. But yeah, man, if he loses, boy, I don't know what happens to him then. Because, you know, what's our appetite for Connor? Of course, like, he'll always get fights. We'll always watch. But what's our appetite really going to be for Connor McGregor? after that and what's his appetite going to be for competing after that and yeah so that that could be

devastating we like we know the problems at least you know um according to like the social media the issues that he's dealt with and um his lifestyle that he likes to live and he's got the money it's not like he needs the money or anything so win or lose man i think it's going to be really interesting to see how this story plays out we're going to break down the fight next week on the show um and just a reminder to everyone, we're going to be doing our pre and post for UFC 329 and then we're going to be off the air for a couple weeks while Matt's down in Costa Rica. And I'm actually taking a little vacation myself, so we're going to be off for a couple weeks.

But we do our actual preview show next week. We'll break it down, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly, the pros and cons and who could win this fight. But do we have to, just because Connor's been out for five years, I mean, do we almost have to, like, temper our expectations already? Just because, like, I don't, like, listen, when Connor lost to Dustin in that rematch, the original rematch. Like he had his moments. Like he tagged Dustin several times and Dustin tagged him back. Before the broken leg though, it was pretty lopsided. Like

Dustin was beating him up, taking him down. Like it was like damn like it was like Dustin wanted to prove a point. They broke his like now who knows? Like you just don't know. You can't sit there and say well he was getting beaten the first round it would have been over. It's the same people are saying, oh, Cyril God was beating Tom Aspinall. Well yeah, but that's one round. Like we can't say what would have happened in round two or three or four. I mean, yeah, look at. Chow son-in was beating Anderson Silva. Yeah, look at Marab and Umar Narama McAbenoff. Like, you know, Umar came out

at the gate won a couple rounds. Like, oh man, new champ, and then Marab just absolutely turns it on the after Jets and takes over. So you can't, no one consider it and say, oh, well, you know, Connor, Connor would have absolutely lost that poor A fight. Do I think he was going to lose? Yeah, but that doesn't matter. It's a fight. You can't say for sure.

Exactly. And I don't think Connor's in like a BJ Penn or a Tony Ferguson situation where we're like kind of getting sad for them fighting, you know? But that was guys who continuously kept fighting and probably It shouldn't have been. But this is a big moment for Connor. Five years away, like, he's got to come out there.

And even if he loses, he's got to look good doing it. Like, this should look like the Nate Diaz rematch, where it's just a battle and it's just back and forth and you're slugging away and Max wins a 48-47 decision. He can't go out there and just get dominated. You know, like, he can't go out there and just so, I don't know. Should we like, I guess we have to keep our expectation somewhat low because the reality is we don't know what, like, what Connor we're getting. No, I think you hit it exactly right. We don't know what we're getting with Connor. And he's coming back against Max.

Like we know what we're getting with Max. Like he's going to be in shape. He's going to put on volume. He's going to be sharp. He's going to be good. Like Max has been Uber consistent, even wins and losses. Like he is a consistent show up on point fighter. And, you know, that makes a, it's a tough night for Connor, man.

And we're going to break it down next week. but that's why I'm going to pick, I'm going to be picking Max. I mean, you know, on top of just the time off and which look, in reality, the time off might be a good thing for Connor. Maybe he needed it, right?

With all the pressure, all the fame, all the things he was dealing with, you know, deal, you know, business, family, boat loads of money, you know, so he's got all these things coming in. Maybe he just needed that time

to sort things out and enjoy the, the fruits of his labor a little bit. get that out of his system. You know, sort of like you see this with fighters a lot of times. After a fight, they'll go party for, you know, a week or maybe two weeks, some longer than others, right? But the majority of fighters, like, they, you know, they enjoy the fruits of labor for a short time after the fight.

And that gets some refresh to get back into camp, right? You've got to, you know, kind of just get all that out, especially when you're a fighter and, you know, you got fucked up brains like we all do, you know, or fucked up minds or you know, whatever. And so maybe it was good for him, right? And we'll get, we'll talk about this more next week. But we know, again, we know where Max is. And that's why he should be.

And even if they were, you know, Connor had kept fighting and, you know, he wasn't all the time off. Like, Max grew a lot since that first fight. Like, this is not an easy fight for Connor. Even, you know, in your prime, doing your best. Like Max is a fucking stud. So I'm excited to see it, man. I really do hope Connor makes the walk.

And like you said, if he doesn't somehow, you know, they've already put so much promotion and marketing to this. I mean, I guess he's going to do it, right? I got to believe that he's going to do it. And at this point, I mean, you kind of can't pull out. You know, you kind of got to go. And I get, I will give him credit too because, like, I know from what I've heard from multiple sources, like,

the EOC was really pushing for the Holloway fight. That's the one they want. And I get it. Max is a star in his own right. And yes, Connor's still always going to be the A side. But, you know,

I think people's interest if he had been fighting Chandler off of three or four losses in a row, people would be like, eh, you're just setting Connor up for a win. Yeah. Whereas now he's not set up for a win. Like, we actually,

a lot of people, myself and yourself include, believe he's going to lose. So credit to Matt, like, yeah, and Connor, like, unlike a lot of fighters, he does have negotiating power. Like, he's such a star.

Like, if they're like, you know what, we're done doing business where he let you go. He would go fighting BKFC tomorrow and they'd do millions of revenue on that.

So, like, Connor has more power than the average fighter, even the average champion. So he could have said, you know, I'm not doing this. I'm doing,

I want Michael Chandler or nothing else. Or I want this guy, nothing else. Not saying he would get that fight, but they would probably have to, like, think about, well, we need this,

we want that. Credit to him for that, man. Even, like I said, even if he loses, like he came in against a top five lightweighted, a guy who has a brutal knockout

with the current champion. You know, He got out grappled by Charles Oliver, but he was never seriously in danger. Like, he came close. And Charles was, like, one of the greatest submission fighters of all time. Maybe he, you know, in terms of, like, UFC, maybe the greatest. And he couldn't get anywhere on Max on the ground. He could hold him down, take him down, but he couldn't actually get anywhere with submission.

So, you know, it's not like Max is, like, at the tail end of his career and he's, like, getting one more fight. Like, he's a top five lightweight right now. So, listen, if this fight happens, credit to Connor, man. Like I said, does take some stones to take a fight. I don't care how much you're getting paid, dude. You get paid millions. You can still get embarrassed.

And embarrassed sucks. Like, there's no way around that if you just go out there and absolutely get decimated. So, you know, I give him credit. Now, as I said, you got to believe it. He's not doing this for the money, right? Like, the UFC just simply doesn't pay enough that it makes it worth it for Connor to come back and do this. He's got to be doing it for something beyond money. Now, maybe it's like brand, right, which equates money.

You know, maybe that has something to do with it. But in terms of just the straight purse, like it doesn't actually make sense for him which I've talked about this at nauseam you know the actual percentage of his net worth it just doesn't make sense for him to go in there and fight so there's certainly more to this than just a money thing and that could be a good thing or a bad thing like is he doing it because of his ego because his uh you know he's kind of lost his identity and that's why he was falling into the drugs and alcohol or whatever he was doing um you know and he needs to refine himself because he can't find another identity or is he coming back at doing this

because you know he's still got a lot left to to actually do he's still got a lot of gas in the tank and he still got a lot of fire in his heart yeah well we'll find out is it two weeks away and by the way like i know it's just a matter of timing because july fourth is on a saturday so the i'd probably not unless i still think the white house car would have been cooler on july fourth but that's neither here nor there but uh it's hard to get guys from watching fireworks with your family to sit down and watch fights instead, right? Yeah, but I do, like... They could do know it on Sunday, though.

Yeah. The USC schedule never slows down, though, and I'm actually weirdly glad that we have two weeks before the Connor come back, because, like, that was the dead. That was like... I'll say the downside. The White House card smashed it. It killed it. I'm not sure we saw the global numbers, 34 million people.

Like, it killed it. But I like having a little time to get hyped up for these really, really big cards. And, like, two weeks to go... I told my buddy R.J. Clifford, who does research and stuff for the UFC, he had tweeted. He had said, oh, it's officially Connor fight week because we're two weeks out, and there's no other fights between. And I don't know if you saw it,

but UFC did a Connor promo for the fight, and it's just like, they showed, obviously, I'm getting his leg broken, but then they have, like, little clips and stuff, and it's all the great, like, audio clips where he's like, who the fuck is this guy? And, you know, it's a red penny night, call your wife. We done it, baby. All the great Connor moments, and it was just like interspice

with highlights and knocking out Aldo. And so I was like, can't lie, man. It got me kind of hyped. I've been to several Conner-Merger fight weeks, and it is different. Like, it is a different feeling. I remember I care which, I think it was the Nadeez, I guess it was the Nadeez rematch or it was the Jose Aldo title fight, but like we were at the way-ins. And like the Irish crowd was absolutely insane.

It was so much fun. So listen, Conner's back. And, you know, I like that we have a little bit of time to get hyped up and kind of excited about it, assuming it happens. I think we should all get excited. Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, like you said, there is a certain energy. There's a certain vibe.

There's an aura in the air when Connor fights. And yeah, you got to be excited for that, man. It's just, you know, your first question was, how much confidence, how much face do you have that he walks in there? That's the only kind of diminisher of the feeling of excitement, right? It's like, is he really going to do this? But at this point, again, I don't see where there's any pulling out. Like, you kind of got to do it at this point.

You can't pull out now. Like, it's, they've already put in so much marketing and production and everything. And if he does, then I'm going to go straight conspiracy theory level and be like, dude, Connor just wants to fuck the UFC. Like, he's got something out for them and he's just setting them up for failure or something because like at this point, you got to go fight, man. and we know Connor from his from his prime days I guess you would say

or at least his coming up days like he's not one to really pull out of fights right you got to give him that respect like he he'll fight through injuries he'll fight through whatever kind of shit happens and if he pulls out like I'm going conspiracy theory I always give him credit man to fight the card where you fought Tim Means where he was going to fight Aldo

and like a week out Aldo got injured he had to get Chad Mendez and at the time Chad Mendez was a terrible matchup for Connor because that was a big, that was the big question. How will he do against a wrestler? And to his credit, Chad did take him down. But, you know, listen, and both, you know, I know, Chad was taking the final super short notice. He ran out of gas after the first round or whatever. But still, I don't care of it short notice or not. You're going from a pure striker, you know, an absolute kickboxing nightmare in Jose Aldo to a wrestler, a little shorter muscle bound wrestler. Credit to, like,

I was like, man, that does take some cahoes. I don't care how much you're getting paid or how much better prepared you think you are. That is still a risk. You know, it's absolutely still risk. I mean, that a lot on the line. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's still like a fuck ton on the line and he took the risk of going against a wrestler versus a kickboxer. Yeah.

Yeah. So like I said, this is, you know, it's do or die now in terms of like you've got to step in that octagon. I feel like we're going to get it. I mean, at this point, man, if it doesn't, I might be on your, I might be on your train of like, there's something else going on here. So you mentioned it at the top of the show, Matt. I want to get into this because we were, we recorded and then like a couple days later,

We heard the news that Dustin Porre got arrested for public drunkenness, which could mean a million different things. But then the video came out. And it was kind of disturbing. He's trying to fight the cops. And he's like, you know, literally staring off with them saying, let's go, let's go. And then by the end of the video, he's like dapping up the police officer and he did a good job. It was a really weird, like, very disturbing video. You can tell like this was not Dustin.

And like I just had like a couple beers. Like he was three sheets of the wind and, you know, got kicked off a fly. Yeah, and then afterwards, you know, he's like, basically Dustin a minute, like, I'm at a point where I need help. And I know there was a video that circulated after he got arrested from like two weeks ago where he talked to an outlet. He said, you know, I'm struggling. Like, it's hard not being a fighter. He's doing commentary, he's doing other things, but he's like, it's hard not being a fighter. I remember talking to Daniel Cormier when he retired.

And he's like, that feeling never goes away. Like, you're never going to stop wanting to fight. You just have to find other things to fill your life so you're not consumed by it. He's like, I'm going to be a competitor until the day I dies. and we're playing checkers, I'm going to try to beat you because that's just who I am. But, you know, some guy, and the reason I'm bringing this up isn't to take shots or, you know, pontificate on how Dustin messed up. I think he knows he messed up.

And because Dustin, unlike, like I say, a Connor who has kind of been, you know, kind of a bad boy, quote, unquote, his entire career. Like, we hear a story about Connor punching a dude at a bar. We're like, Connor. Like, we just got to roll our eyes and that's Connor. Dustin's not that way. Dustin's always been across the board, like, the really good guy. and I haven't talked to Dustin in a couple of years, but, like, Dustin was always one of the best dudes I ever knew in this sport,

like really, genuinely nice guy. And I remember when I went down to American Top Team, and he was just, like, just the same person, like very, very cool guy, you know, I remember him being like, dude, you need anything while you're here? Like, he was just that way. Like, that was just Dustin. So I'm not here to, I'm not here to, you know, like theorize

and, oh, my God, he needs to go into rehab. That's not what I'm here to do. The reason I bring this up, man, is because something you've said a lot on this show and talking about your own retirement was like not allow. Fighters need to not allow fighting to be their whole identity. And I think to a certain extent that is what Dustin Pore has done, clearly. He's like, I've struggled since retirement. He retired last July.

It's been about a year and this is happening now. So like literally within a year, he's getting arrested for public drunkenness and an airport and the video did not look good. So, Matt, I'll turn it to you because I know you said this a lot. I don't know how well you know Dustin. I know you shared a manager with him for years like earlier before the whole, you know, advertise their sponsorship thing changed with the UFC. What did you make in that situation?

And is that just literally the classic case of what you've always talked about? Fighters need to not let fighting be their whole identity. Well, you can not let it be your whole identity, but to be at the level of Dust of Porier, you have to make it your whole identity also, right? But, you know, so that's a balancing game that is kind of an unwinnable game, unfortunately. You have to make it your whole identity.

identity. And he did a great job of that. And I think he should be proud of that. But I'll say this about the Dustin Porre situation. And I don't, you know, I don't, again, I don't know Dustin personally, but from what I know of them in the public eye and, you know, the experiences that I hear from others, like from you and others, look, we can't let one night define Dustin Porreier, right? That's all it comes down to um like i don't know if you seen i tweeted the other day i was like why is everybody making such a big deal out of this like we've all fucking done this not i mean not everybody but like i've seen shit like out of airports before my damn self you know i mean and like and it's a nothing burger it's not even a fucking story right but but dustin is obviously in the public eye

and he's known as a good guy so then when we see that we're like it's just so out of character for him, right? So we start questioning, you know, what his mental health is. I think he's perfectly fine, right? And he recognized it, too. He recognized the problem. He said, I need help. And that tells me, like, okay, like, what I say in AA, like acceptance is the first step or whatever, like, okay, he accepts it. He knows where he's at. Like, he's going to be fine. Like, I don't think this is a big story. I don't think it's a big problem. And that's where I go to look like that does not, to me, that does not define Dustin Porre. Like I still, I think, you know, at least, again, I don't know him personally, but I know who I believe Dustin Porre is.

And I don't think that person is gone. I think he's still a good dude. I think he's intelligent enough guy. Like, we hear him speaking. Like, he's not like punched drunk or anything. He had a fucking bad night. And airports fucking suck anyway. Right?

Like, I'd get frustrated too. I get frustrated too. I get it. And then he finally came to his senses. And, you know, if this becomes a common thing, you know, like others in the sport, where things like this become common news, then, you know, we should probably, you know, have more public conversation about, you know, this person needs help or something. I think he's going to be perfectly fucking fun, right? And he owned it, you know. And again, the last thing I'll say, kind of on that part of something, look, again, we've all either seen this or we've done it ourselves. I've done far stupid or shit.

Right. And, but most of ours, but, but our worst nights are not filmed for the world to see, right? His just happened to be filmed, you know, on a body cam footage for everybody to see. So it's easy for us to judge him. or make our criticisms or think what we think he should be doing. We have no clue. And look, I think Dustin Poirier is going to be perfectly fine. I think it's kind of a nothing burger.

And I mean, let me go back. Okay, it's not nothing, right? It's not just nothing at all. But like he owned it, right? So good. Do that, Dustin. Own it. fix it and you got the support.

Like because you've been such a good dude and because you are a respectable fighter in this community. Like we all got your back, bro. Now go take care of yourself. We got your back. Yeah. I mean, don't repeat it. Yeah. And like, I mean, I'm not trying to belittle what happened,

but like it could have been much, much worse. Like, you know, like... Could have been way worse. Yeah. You got props to the cop, right? Or like, I mean, even beyond that, like, he could have jumped in a car. Like, that do not want that to get. You know what I mean? Like, it happened in an airport. Yeah, it shouldn't have happened.

Yeah, it's not a good look, but, you know, it's not the end of the world. And yeah, it could have gone way worse. Like, if he actually took a swing in a cop, and then we're talking about Dustin Porey getting tased or shot or who knows. So, you know, it didn't go that far, thankfully. But I pretty much agree with you. Like, it's just shocking because it's Dustin. Like I said, this was Connor.

I'm sorry, but, like, we'd be like, you know, Connor's back on a bender. But, like, Dustin has just always been such a, you know, clean cut, you know, good dude. And when something like this happens, like, whoa, so out of character. But he recognized he made a mistake. And by the way, it's a misdemeanor of public drunk in his charge. Like he's going to pay a fine and that's going to pretty much be the end of it.

It's a misdemeanor. But this will be forgotten. Yeah. As long as he takes care of himself and again, don't fucking do it again, bro. Like actually go take care of your shit. Yeah. Which I think he'll be perfectly fine, do it. But I think, like, as we talked about, like you mentioned, like when you're at

Dusty Pore's level and you're a title contender for like, I don't know, what is five years in a row. You said, like, you've got to make fighting your idea. And he did. Like, I thought, like, he lives in Louisiana with his wife and kids. He would fly to Florida and train an American top team for three months and then go home again. Like, he would really separate himself when it was time to fight. And that was, I mean, Destipori was ferocious. I was at American Top Team with Dustin Pore. I saw him trained. The dude's a freaking monster. But I think beyond, like, if there's like an addiction problem here, like, he's like, I need to not drink and he needs help in that regard, go get your help.

Like, I've lived around addicts. I know, obviously, Matt, you have experience with that as well. Get help if that's what you're dealing with. Like, if you're just like, I'm drinking to cope, find a way to not drink. You know, find a way to get that exit. But I think the bigger, the bigger, I would say, I'll say concern, the bigger question with Dustin going forward is like,

finding, finding that balance now that fighting isn't there for you anymore, because I know, like, I don't know. I'm not a fighter, but I know it's a very intense, you know, just, it's an incredible sport, but you sacrificed so much to do it and when it's over, like when you retired, not to rehash the past, but you said very clearly,

when you UFC College, you didn't get that same feeling, that same excitement, you're like, you know what, I'm done. Like, that was when you knew. But Dustin did the big plan. Like, you know,

I know you said you don't really like that when guys plan out their retirement did the big plan in New Orleans, Max Holloway, you know, and he lost and it was like, yeah, probably the right time. Like I talked to his coach Mike Brown afterwards. Like, yeah, probably the right time to walk away

because he was, you know, he's done everything. He took a lot of damage and you didn't need to keep fighting. But it's finding that next step. You know what I mean? And by the way, no one considers it. Well, he has a wife and two kids. Shouldn't that be the next step?

No. Like, yes, he's a family man. He loves his family. But that doesn't satisfy that inner hunger in him that wasn't fighting. So you, like, since fighting, I don't want to put words in your mouth, Matt, but since fighting, like, you've opened businesses. You've stayed busy. You've got a million things going on.

You're like, to me, I think you're just busy now. You're when you're a fighter. Busy. Everyone's different. But I think that's, I think beyond dealing with like the potential addiction thing with Dustin, I think the big thing is like him to find that balance. Like find what makes him feel whole again. You know, maybe he'll never feel completely whole because the fighting's gone. But like finding other parts to fill in those gaps.

No, that's exactly it, man. Because the big problem when you retire, like it's not just that you're not fighting anymore specifically, right? It's not just that, you know, you're not, you know, you don't have a competition. coming up like what it is like you're losing like your your calendar right you don't know how to fill your days now you lose your the pressure on you right we get used to this pressure and we love that shit like one of the things i i say to people that ask me you know what's retired life or what do you miss about fight or whatever it the fight i miss what i miss the most is like the fight weak like the fucking nerves being scared being backstage scared as fuck like not knowing

what's about to happen i miss that is every bit as much as a fight the fight's just like we did the same thing at least a comparable thing that we do in sparring and training like every day right but i don't get nervous to go to training every day i get scared as shit when i'm backstage and you know i got a a bloodthirsty lion that wants to take my head off and you know 20 minutes or whatever you know and like one of the biggest things i miss is bert watson when he used to i don't know if you were ever backstage when i'm sure you where right when you could, oh, excuse me, you could hear Bert from a mile away.

We rollin, baby. And like that just fired me up so much just hearing his voice, just knowing like, like it's my time, baby. Man, he was just the perfect guy for it. Too bad that he's not with the UFC anymore. And now it's more corporate and the, hey, just walk in. Like, okay, five minutes, you know, you're going to stand here.

They explain the whole walkout and everything. Like, well, like, I've done this shit before. Am I right? But anyway, but then, like, But then like you lose an enemy too, right? You don't have this, this demon in front of you to take out, right? Which also kind of goes into the mission that you lose, right? You're on a mission to be world champion or whatever, you know, your goal is.

And of course, you lose your identity, which we all know about. And you have to replace each of those things is the hard part, right? We talk about identity a lot. We talk about, you know, how do you become, you know, just a different person, so to speak, when you come out of the fighting? I think it's very comparable to military, too. John Jones tweet that day or day. It's very comparable to military. Like, how do you just become a completely different person?

But there's so much more. You got to, again, you've got to fill up your calendar with things that you're not as excited about, right? You got to build some pressure. That's why I take chances in business. And, you know, and I'll go train with guys that, you know, create some problems for me. You know, you need to have an enemy, right? You got to have something that, you know, that's against you the whole time, fighting against you and knowing that that's there. You got to have a mission.

You got to know what you're working towards every day. And you got to write that shit down. You got to brainwash yourself into believing that that that's. you know brainwash has a bad kind of sound to it right but you can brainwash yourself in a good way too like we're all brainwashed whether we like it or not everything in the world is brainwashing us so we can brainwash positivity or we can brainwash negativity and you know so we got to brainwash our brains into thinking in a different way and and all of that ultimately creates the identity that you're built on right and and here's the problem like if you don't replace you don't replace

all that shit, you know, then you have all these voids everywhere. And what you have to do is you have to take control and take power over the situation or the voids are going to start making the decisions for you. Right? That's the best way that I can say it. And when those voids make the decisions, that's when you end up in bad situations. Maybe like Dustin Poirier's situation, though I don't know if you know we we kind of assume that that's what it is right I mean he could he could

be living perfectly fine I mean he kind of said openly that you know he's kind of struggling with the whatever so he's probably not but he might even be making a kind of an excuse for himself like it may not even be that and you know I don't want to you know act like I'm the fucking psychologist here that can dig into all that but I'm just saying it's possible like I've seen it before where They kind of use that as an excuse. Like military people I've seen, not necessarily fighters as much, but they use as an excuse to go drinking and doing all these things. And it's like, it's like, you know, there's no excuse for that behavior.

And you just have to own it. And it seems like Dustin did. So what I'm getting out with all that is, is like you have to take power over all of those voids and you've got to fill them with things that are meaningful to you. I was personally just kind of blessed where, you know, I have, like, it's kind of a blessing and a curse of mine. Like throughout my fight career, I would get distracted kind of easily because my brain wants to do so many different things and I need new stimulation and I enjoy different things. So like sometimes it would affect, you know, my training or my schedule or, you know, I would just kind of get into things that weren't really necessary. helping when I could have maybe been a little bit more focused on one singular thing.

But then when I retired, like, you know, now it's kind of a blessing because I'm like, I'm like, dude, that's exciting. Like, it's kind of exciting to retire. Now I can play more guitar, right? You know, just for example, right? I can, you know, work on my business more. I can do these other things. And I think a lot of people just aren't blessed with that. Like I was blessed with it naturally. It's not something that I built, right? It's just something that I was kind of born with. So yeah, to end this whole fucking long-ass rant here, look, Dustin's going to be perfectly fine, I think. I think he's got a good enough head on his shoulders that this is not going to be a huge thing for him. But he's got to find ways to fill all those voids.

And I think he'll find a way to do all that. Yeah. I mean, listen, there's no, there's no perfect right or wrong answer. If that was the case, he would have gone through this and said, oh, we figured it out. You didn't mean? There's no perfect right or wrong answer. and the reality is like, you know, to me it's like action's not words. Like I appreciate the dust to put out that statement saying, you know, I'm not okay.

I need help. Well, that's a huge step right there just saying you need help admitting that. Whatever that means. Maybe it's just going to therapy. Maybe it's going into rehab. I don't know what it is. Like I said, this is a one incident. But he's really like, you know, if he sees that, he's like, wow, I've really been drinking too much.

Like I've been drinking to cope. Yeah, that's a problem. And like I said, I've lived there. Both of my parents were addicts, so I get it. Yeah. Drink to remember, not to forget. Yeah. So, yeah, like, there's no perfect right or wrong answer.

But, but, like, because he said it, and I agree, there could be an excuse there potentially. But, like, because he said it, like I said, that video popped up from, like, three weeks earlier where he's like, I'm struggling, man. Like, it's hard to, like, walk away from fighting. And there's a reason, like, beyond money, some guys just can't give up fighting. So they just keep coming back. And they start doing bare knuckle. And they start doing this and that because they're just not, they don't know how to not be a fighter. But I think, like, finding that perspective and just finding, I know it's a, like, very,

It sounds very, like, cheesy, but find your why. Like, find why you're doing what you're doing. And I believe, with absolute certainty that Dustin absolutely adores his wife and kids. Like, I know that's a huge part of it. But that's family. And I'm not saying they're not important. They should absolutely be important. But, like, that's not who defines Dustin Poria.

Like, that's his legacy. Those are his kids. But find something like, maybe it's like, you said, some people pour themselves into work. And like I said, I know he's doing commentary and he's doing, you know, broadcast stuff for the UFC. If that's the case, pour yourself into that more. Whatever. Like, find your wife. find out what you're doing now the fighting's over, and that's at least my opinion,

find out, and like, I'm with you. I think he'll be fine. He messed up. And there's a thousand ways worse he could have messed up than what he did. It's not a good look. And like you said, it's because Dustin has always known as such a good dude. They were like, whoa, this seems so out of character. Well, trust me, alcohol could make you do some really crazy shit out of character.

So I guess, like, the last thing I'll say on this man, like what is, and like I said, It's not a one-size-fits-all answer, but as a guy who's retired and found purpose after fighting, I know it sounds really cheesy, but what is the best advice you'd offer a dust-a-poena or anyone? Like, I know everyone's different, but like everyone when they get done fighting. And by the way, Dustin's incredibly famous. Like, that's another reason why this went viral is because he's Dustin Boria. If this was, you know, Joe Smith, who fought the UFC three times in 2019, wouldn't even made a headline. No one would have cared because, like, he's three, you know, it's Dustipore. He's one of the top, what, 10 fighters the last decade in terms of popularity and, you know, an appeal of fans.

So when I say offer advice, and this goes across the board because you've always said, like, find that purpose. And, you know, some guys just can't. Yeah, two things. For one, the first one is, like, you can't be afraid to kind of lower yourself because, and when I say lower yourself, it doesn't, you know, I don't mean that in a necessarily negative way. but you can't be afraid to kind of start something from scratch again. Like, for instance, you know, I'm not saying that I'm a perfect guy or whatever, but like when I opened my gym, like I had a hard time at first because, you know, I'm a famous fighter and, you know, I would do seminars and all over the world.

And I do these seminars. There's, you know, 50, 60, 70 people there sometimes. And so, you know, in my head, I'm like, well, I open. a gym like it would be 50, 60, 70 people first day, right? And then I opened the gym and there's two people, but it's because I didn't lower myself, right? And I didn't, I didn't think about like, like, okay, for those people to fill up those seminars, what they're doing, they're, you know, their marketing and, you know, they're calling people, getting people in. So I had to do that. And like, one of the things that I did, one of the first weeks that I had my gym was, you know, I got a list of people.

because long story on that, but whatever. And I started calling people myself, right? I didn't have the, now I could have hired someone to do that, but I just went ahead and did it myself. And I called them personally. I said that would be something meaningful for them and start getting people in. The next week we had like 10 people, you know,

and then 20 and et cetera. And then, you know, eventually you pay some one, do it. And now we have like over 400 members. But I had, to, I don't think the term lower yourself is the right way to say it, but I had to put myself back to the beginning, right? Because you are doing something new in the beginning, right? Like, that's why you've heard me say before. I don't like the word retirement. What we're doing, like we don't make enough money and the money, enough money in the UFC to retire. What we do

is we switch incomes. There's switch jobs, right? And hopefully, now there's some guys, like Connor probably made enough he could retire. There is guys, but the vast majority of us, like, you know, a few million dollars isn't enough to last you and your family your whole life, right? You'll blow through that way quicker than you think. So you better find another way to keep producing income. But when you find another way to produce income,

like you have to start at the bottom. Like it's something you've never done before. So you have to bring yourself back to when you were younger, then you start in fighting, right? Like you got to scratch and claw. right you got to fucking work your way through some things and that is not an easy thing to do because we're used to being pumped up we're used to be in the top dog we're used to being you know put on a pedestal all the time and like I remember when I was calling people for the gym

that first week people are like is this Matt Brown like you're fucking calling me like what the fuck bro like I'll be in there right in 10 minutes let's go um but you got to suck that up man you got to you got to suck up some of that shit even like tonight we're having the grand opening my second gym. Like I'm going out there personally, right? Because I want people to sign up. And if it takes me being there to get, I could absolutely just not go. I have a whole crew out there. Everybody's setting everything up. Everybody's got everything taken care of. But I'm going to go and support the cause, right? You know, like I still teach classes at my gym. Sometimes people come in the gym and they can't believe that I'm teaching a class. And I'm

like, bro, like this is my thing. Like, I build it. Like, I love this. And, you know, you can do the same thing anyway so that's the first thing like like don't be afraid to start over and and just start from the bottom because that's where you're at right now on those things you're at the top of fighting that doesn't mean you're at the top of everything else that you're doing i think that's a that's actually probably the the single best advice that i could give to people um the second one is i always suggest every fighter every person in the world read this book uh it's called as a man thinketh um the title pretty much says it all it takes like a fucking hour to read I think it's one hour on

audiobook or something I used to listen to it every day and like I said the title says it all as a man thinketh so he is and the whole book is very very simple it's just all the words the language that you use with yourself the way that you speak to yourself internally

can change everything in your entire world like if you you know so for instance like when fighters come in and you know maybe they're getting ready for a fight I'm like okay you know what are you going to do in this fight and they say well I'm going to try my best I'm like okay where are you going to do what's necessary or are you going to try your best right and so like even that little bit of language can change everything and you hear something like um like dust the point saying like like I'm struggling okay well

Well, if you keep saying you're struggling, you're going to keep struggling. Right? You got to say, I am getting through this or I am rebuilding myself, whatever, right? And just having that more affirmative language can really change everybody's life. Pretty much everybody, really, right? I think we all do it, right? I catch myself, do it all the time. You know, kind of getting rid of the word try.

And I say, you know, like the Master Yoda Jedi said, do or do not. not there is no try and i i think that's just a very powerful thing and that's kind of got all that stuff from that book as a man think is so he is so if you think that you are not capable or if you think that you are not um you know good enough or whatever then you're not right the man who says he can the men that says he can't are both right it's like you always like the the idea of like mentality being such a big part of mentality is a huge part of fighting like absolutely like if you're If you're not in the right headspace, you're probably going to lose, you know? So it's almost like turning that attitude.

Like, what kind of mindset did you have in fight? Like, I'm going to go out and kill this guy. I know I'm going to knock him out. I'm confident I got this, that. I guess it's like carried that same attitude into post-fighting. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of that. And, you know, I mean, I have a ton of thoughts on that. We could go on very long and deep about that because it's not as simple.

It's just like affirmations in the mirror is not what's going to change your day. Getting up and putting in action is what's going to change your day, right? Yeah. But it starts at that, it starts at that granular level, though, right? Like just having like that. Yeah, exactly. And that's why, again, this book is why it's usually the one that I recommend because it's very simple, it's straightforward. And that's where it all starts.

Just the thought of, okay, like, I need to speak properly and internally. My internal monologue has to be proper. So, you know, when you get into, now, when you actually get into the action part, and that's where this gets a little bit deeper, right? When you get into the action part, and you're talking about, okay, you walk it in the cage, saying, I'm going to kill this guy and this and that,

and I'm going to beat him, I'm going to win, I'm going to do this. That's dependent on whether you took the actions during the camp or maybe through your whole life, right? I mean, this could go back very far because what happens is we have a conscious and a subconscious, right? And our conscious thoughts, we're saying we're going to do this. I cut and I'll give you an example. We consciously say I'm going to go on the treadmill and I'm going to run for 45 minutes.

If you jump off that treadmill at 44 minutes, now your subconscious hears that and sees that and feels that. And it says, oh, you're a liar. So now when you go into the cage and you say, I'm going to beat his ass consciously, your subconscious is like, I don't believe you. Right. And then, and now it's going to certainly give you a slight delay of reaction because, Because in the cage, it's all subconscious, right? All of your, not at all, but the vast majority of your actions are going to be a subconscious thing.

It's just an action, reaction thing. And if your subconscious doesn't believe you that you can do it, then you're going to have a little bit of lag. And now your conscience is going to have take over. And your conscious say, you need to do it. And then actually perform the action. And this just creates lag. And that's how you end up getting knocked out.

And but that is built in the gym, right? You have to build stacks of evidence that you are who you say you are, that you will do what you say you will do. And that's where integrity comes in. And when your subconscious has that much confidence in your conscious, then that's when those things actually mean something. And this is why I talk about all the time. When guys go through their prime, you know,

they were putting in that work. And then, and then, and their subconscious is so confident in them believes in everything they're doing. And then they start lagging just a little bit, right? Just little touches here and there. And now they're subconscious. Their body may not even be different, right? They may still be prime physically,

but their subconscious is just a little bit behind. They're just like, I don't know. So now they kind of have to force themselves through these motions. And again, I could write a whole book about this because, you know, I think this is an important thing. Like I grew up personally in a situation where I was put down a lot. and was kind of raised to believe that the little town I grew up in, this was my whole world, this is all you're going to be,

and this is just how you live. So I had to reprogram my own mind and to believe, no, you can do bigger things. And that first little, you know, conceive, believe, achieve, right? That first conception is where it all starts. You have to believe, you know, that you can be these bigger things. But you don't really believe it until you start doing it, right? And that's with everything you do. You know, it's like, like, you know, I take people out to the stairs at the, at the,

dam out here, right? And, you know, the person that doesn't believe they can get to the top, they won't get to the top, right? But if you can see yourself up there, you have to see that first. And once you see it, then, you know, okay, I'm willing to do anything to get up there, then you will absolutely get up there. I don't care, you know, how you are physically. Like, if you can take one step, then you can.

take the next step and if you can take the next one then you can take the next one and yeah so again i mean i could go on all day about this but that's that's where it all starts is you have to think of yourself this is you know to wrap it all up right going back to the advice that i would give dust and pori at or any fighter retiring or military whatever right you have to think of yourself in a completely different way you can't you can't dwell on the fact that you were a fighter you have to forget about that life. You have to think of yourself like, like I am this now, whatever, you know, whatever this might be. This is who I am and this is what I'm going to do today to, to, to take the next step in this part of my life. Yeah, I need it's a good advice. Like I said, ultimately,

I think Dustin's going to be fine, recognize the issue. And like I said, just hopefully it didn't happen again. And like I said, this isn't a pattern for him. It's the first time we've ever heard a story like this. So, you know, like I said. It's not a pattern. Yeah. Yeah, certain guys are like, oh, man, here he goes again, you know. And, you know, that's where John Jones was like, you see in his little interview where he's like, bro, news is news. Like, this is all cool. He's been through this shit, you know what I mean? It's not a big fucking deal.

And I mean, John Jones went through way worse shit. And he's like, bro, like, it just made the news bigger. You know what I mean? He knows John figured out all PR is good PR. Well, I think Dustin will be fine. But, like I said, I wanted to bring that up because I know you talked about a lot. and obviously you've been in a similar situation in terms of like being a fighter for so long and retiring. And now you've found a new career and doing things outside of fighting, including our podcast.

But with that being said, folks, we're going to get out of here. Next week, of course, we're going to do our full UFC 329 breakdown, talk about Connors' comeback, talk about his chance against Max Hollow. It also has another good fights on that card. Corey Sanagan, Mario Batista, Binwa St. Denis versus Patty Pimblitz. I saw someone, I put a tweet out with the card, and I'll just card didn't you go. I was like, are you looking at the same card I am? Because, like, this is not a typical of Connor card.

They put, they got some stacked guys on here. Like, I was like, they did a good job. This might be as good as the White House card, honestly. I mean, it's really good. And like I said, the cap-it-like match-up-wise. Like, it's actually better, right? Like, it's more even match-ups that you're kind of like, I don't know what's going to happen.

Yeah, I mean, I had one guy who's totally two opposite tweets. One guy's like, BSD's going to kill Paddy. You have another guy sell Patty's going to kill BSD. That's what you want. You want those kind of different opinions where, like, you're not convinced one guy is going to win. I think it's a good card, so I think I'm looking forward to it. But we'll break down.

King Green and Terrence McKinney, God, that can be over in 10 seconds. This can be a fun 10 seconds. So, yeah, we're going to break all that down next week, obviously, as we get into 329. Everyone have a great holiday weekend this weekend in July. Matt, where can people find you if they want to find out what else we've got going on in the world besides our podcast? The Immortal Matt Brown on Instagram or on Facebook. I am the immortal on Instagram and Twitter.

There you go. And obviously, we want to say big thank you to everyone. tunes in the show. Make sure you check us out on all your favorite podcast platforms, Apple Podcast, Spotify. And of course, over on the best website in the world, mhmapiding.com. For Matt Brown, I'm Damon Martin. We will see you guys next week for another edition of the fighter versus the writer. Thanks for tuning in. We will see you then.