SerpApi.Org
Dustin Poirier's partnership with Bud Light ended within hours of his arrest at Atlanta International Airport last month.
Poirier confirmed the news himself, describing what happened after the public intoxication incident that went viral on Father's Day and led to a misdemeanor charge that could carry up to a year in prison if he is convicted.
"They terminated my contract immediately. It's all good, I don't need that f------ poison in my life. It sucks that my family loses out on the money that I had on the deal with them, which was a few hundred thousand dollars. But if I'm representing something I'm not going to be taking part in, and promoting — it is what it is. There's plenty of people who drink responsibly, but I'm not one of them. I'm not that person,” Poirier
Poirier has been open about the fact that alcoholism became a serious problem in the months following his retirement after the loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318 last year. The structure of professional fighting had kept certain things in check. The airport arrest was the public manifestation of something that had been building privately for months.
Dustin has committed to sobriety since then, and the Bud Light termination — however painful financially — removes a relationship that would have worked against that commitment at every turn. Dana White said at the UFC 329 post-fight press conference that the UFC takes care of fighters who are struggling, and specifically that Poirier would have access to support if he needed it. Sean Strickland initially mocked the situation before speaking directly to Poirier and issuing a genuine apology. The sport's response, by and large, has been sympathetic.
Poirier is now navigating life after fighting and after the partnership that defined part of his post-retirement identity. Both losses, in his telling, are part of the same necessary clearing out: It is what it is. I'm not that person."
