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Former UFC star Dustin Poirier reveals who reached out to him after airport incident appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Dustin Poirier says the UFC did not waste any time showing him support after his arrest at the Atlanta airport last month. The retired former interim lightweight champion revealed that UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell contacted him the very next day, offering the company’s backing during a difficult stretch.
“Literally one day after the arrest and all that happened, Hunter Campbell with the UFC reached out to me and asked me what he can do, that the UFC’s got my back,” Poirier told The Ariel Helwani show. “Anything they can do, anything I need help with, let them know and they’re all in. So no, the UFC, the company, immediately reached out to me and had my back.”
Poirier recalled the specifics of the message Campbell delivered. “I believe his exact words were something on the line of, ‘I can’t let somebody who fought for this company for over 15 years try to handle all this on his own,’ or something like, ‘We have your back, let us know what you need from us,'” he said.
Notably absent from that outreach was UFC CEO Dana White.
“I haven’t heard from Dana. Hunter is the one that reached out,” Poirier said.
Poirier was arrested June 21 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after being denied boarding on a Delta flight, an incident that turned combative before officers took him into custody on a public intoxication charge.
He later opened up to ESPN about what led to the outburst, revealing it happened on Father’s Day and tying it to his own father’s longtime struggles with alcoholism and homelessness, along with his own difficulty adjusting to life after retiring from fighting last July.
The support from Campbell stands out given Poirier’s history with the promotion. He spent 16 years competing for the UFC, closing out his career last summer with a retirement bout against Max Holloway in his home state of Louisiana.
Poirier has said the fallout from the arrest is still playing out, including losing at least one sponsorship since the incident became public.
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