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“I’m going to go home and drink a Coors Light, ’cause Bud Light won’t pay me nothing.”
It has been almost a month to the day since former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Lightweight champion Dustin Poirier was arrested in Georgia on Father’s Day after an airport incident that initially resulted in a misdemeanor public drunkenness charge and then things got worse when police body-camera footage was later released, showing a visibly intoxicated and agitated Poirier threatening to fight police before eventually being taken into custody (details here).
Poirier has since apologized for the incident and opened up in more detail, revealing that he has been dealing with mental health struggles since retiring from the sport.
However, despite the apology and sobriety, Bud Light terminated Poirier’s sponsorship contract immediately after the incident.
“They terminated my contract immediately,” Poirier told Ariel Helwani today. “It’s all good. I don’t need that f—king poison in my life. It sucks that my family loses out on the money I had left on the deal with them, which is a few hundred thousand dollars. But also, if I’m representing something, if I’m advertising something that I’m not going to be taking part in, promoting stuff — it just is what it is.”
Poirier also made it clear that while some people can drink responsibly, he is not one of them.
“There are plenty of people out there who do drink responsibly,” Poirier said. “I’m not one. So, if you can drink responsibly, have fun, drink a Bud Light, drink whatever the hell you want. Be responsible, have a good time. I’m not that person.”
So, yeah, it looks like Sean Strickland’s public plea to Bud Light did not work.
Strickland, who initially blasted Poirier after the arrest before later apologizing, recently called on Bud Light to stand by “The Diamond” instead of cutting ties with him during the lowest point of his life.
“What made me so mad talking to Dustin and hearing things through the grapevine, I heard that Bud Light might let Dustin go,” Strickland said recently. “Let me tell you, that is the most un-American f—king thing you can do. You spent $6 billion creating an addict. Creating someone that wants to grab this every time he’s having a bad day and bring out the worst in him. And at his lowest time, contemplating letting him go. That is the most un-American thing you could do.”
“Bud Light, if you want to represent America, you stand by him and you help him,” Strickland continued. “That’s f—king American.”
Bud Light apparently disagreed.
The alcohol sponsor is now out of Poirier’s life, which may not be the worst thing for him personally if he is serious about staying sober. Financially, though, losing a deal worth a few hundred thousand dollars is obviously a major hit.
The good news for Poirier is that he still has plenty of support elsewhere.
Robert Graham, Celsius, Timex, TLF Apparel and his own Poirier’s Louisiana Style Hot Sauce remain behind him.
So, Bud Light is gone.
Maybe that is a blessing in disguise.
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