Dustin Poirier says he’s financially secure for life following his UFC retirement…
But the former lightweight title contender is candid about at least one habit he’s still working to control.
Here is what he had to say in a recent interview:
I need to stop gambling. She (Poirier’s wife) was like: “I just paid some bills. I saw you made another deposit to the gambling thing.”
I was like, I can’t cold turkey everything. Give me one. Let’s go one thing at a time.
One thing, gambling’s a couple steps up on the list.
Poirier, 37, retired on July 30 last year in his home state of Louisiana.
He credited early financial planning for avoiding the money troubles that derail many retired athletes:
I started investing when I was 23 years old, before I was even making real money.
I always planted seeds cuz I knew I couldn’t compete forever.
The financial discussion came amid a broader conversation about a difficult stretch following retirement, including a Father’s Day arrest at Atlanta airport after drinking and confronting airline staff.
Poirier has since deleted his social media and committed to quitting alcohol entirely:
I’ve always had a bad relationship with alcohol. 90% of the times if I do drink, I’m going to drink to be the best at drinking.
I’m going to drink more than everybody.
He tied the airport incident partly to concern over his father, who has struggled with a**ohol dependency and is currently homeless:
Part of me getting in trouble at the airport was I just felt, it’s not my weight to carry, but I try to help him out and he’s back out on the street. It’s like it almost doesn’t want help.
Poirier said he’s returned to therapy and is focused on maintaining the mental health habits that helped him through a difficult period years ago:
It’s not something that you just fix. It’s something you have to work on always.