Former UFC standout Dustin Poirier is still feeling the fallout from a June arrest that cost him a major sponsor and a hefty chunk of change. The ex-interim lightweight champion recently opened up about the financial and personal toll of the incident.
Poirier was taken into custody at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in late June after heated exchanges with airline staff and police. He was charged with public drunkenness. Shortly after, he revealed that one of his biggest backers cut ties.
“One big [sponsor] isn’t a sponsor anymore,” Poirier said. “I’m sure I’ve lost a few. I’m waiting to see when the smoke clears who’s still with me or not. That day cost me not only embarrassment and embarrassment to my family, it cost me a lot of money, too. I’m losing sponsor.”
During an interview with Ariel Helwani on Tuesday, Poirier confirmed that Bud Light terminated their lucrative partnership. “They terminated my contract immediately. It’s all good, man. I don’t need that [expletive] poison in my life,” he said, via TMZ Sports. “It sucks that my family is missing out on the money I had left on the deal with them, which was a few hundred thousand dollars, but also if I’m representing something I’m not gonna be taking part in, promoting stuff, it is what it is.”
Poirier, arrested on Father’s Day, said personal struggles fueled the meltdown. He revealed his father has battled alcoholism and is currently homeless. “My dad has been in jail plenty of times for alcohol-related stuff,” Poirier told ESPN. “He’s actually homeless right now. Part of that, me getting drunk at the airport — and it’s not my weight to carry — but I tried to help him, and he’s back on the street. On Father’s Day, I was traveling to work and I just couldn’t stop thinking about my father. I started drinking at the airport and that’s what led to the incident.”
The arrest has also forced Poirier to confront his future after retiring from MMA. “I just want to dream again. I don’t know what that will be. I just need that in my life, whatever that is. I still love it. I know I need to continue walking away from it. Those gloves, you put them on the mat, that’s a piece of myself I left. I truly believe that,” he said.
Poirier’s situation echoes other recent incidents involving athletes and legal trouble, like Le'Veon Bell's arrest in Ohio over child support debt. It also brings to mind stunning new details in Zaire Wade's arrest involving an unregistered gun. The broader issue of arrest warrants for athletes' family members continues to make headlines.
Only time will tell if Poirier gets back on track. For now, he’s counting the cost of a single day that spiraled out of control.
