Dustin Poirier Says Conor McGregor Loss Helped Him Evolve As A Fighter

Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier says his knockout loss to former dual weight UFC champion Conor McGregor helped him evolve into the mentally and physically tough fighter we see today.

Poirier returned to the win column this past weekend by outlasting Dan Hooker in the UFC on ESPN 12 main event. Both men went to war for five rounds but ‘The Diamond’ was the unanimous winner on the judge’s scorecards.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani Poirier revealed he become more comfortable in his own skin after losing to McGregor in 2014 and it has helped him go from a fun featherweight to one of the best 155lb fighters in the game, he said.

“It definitely started happening after the Conor McGregor loss. That was the start of it. It’s been a long process, being a father, losing again, winning some and losing again, and winning another one. It’s just a long evolution of stop caring so much. You just stop caring about the noise and stuff that doesn’t matter.”

Poirier explained that as a younger man he took everything too seriously including criticism from fans or journalists. Today, he is able to block out all of the noise, be happy and it shows in his fights.

“A lot of times in my younger career, I felt like it was life or death,” Poirier said. “Every comment on Instagram and Twitter, every journalist who said something, I felt like everybody was against me. I felt like if I lost I would be written off, it’s the end of my career. I’m a bum if I lose this fight. And then you lose a few times and you’re like, ‘Oh sh*t, I can still put this back together. Oh man, I’m still providing for my family. I’m still loving what I do.’ It’s like you’ve been bent but not broken a lot of times and I feel like it made me stronger and it made me the man I am today. I’m happy. I’m genuinely happy.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)

Do you think this evolved version of Dustin Poirier will beat Conor McGregor in a rematch?