JRE MMA Show #176 with Dustin Poirier

TL;DR

Dustin Poirier joins Joe Rogan to discuss his retirement, MMA history, weight cutting dangers, fighter pay, and the sport's doping era.

Key Points

• 1.Poirier is retired and living at ~190 lbs. He spent 20 years obsessively tracking macros and calories to stay within striking range of 155 lbs.
• 2.Both agree UFC needs far more weight classes. Current gaps are too large; California's Andy Foster implemented percentage-based dehydration limits to curb extreme cuts.
• 3.Extreme weight cuts are life-threatening. A fighter face-planted and was removed from a card ~3 events prior; Poirier himself nearly blacked out standing up during cuts.
• 4.Alex Pereira cut from 225 lbs to 185 lbs in 24 hours. Rogan and Poirier cite him as the most extreme active example of dangerous weight manipulation.
• 5.Heavyweight's 265 lb cap baffles boxing fans. Rogan argues it should be unlimited; the 205-to-265 gap means a 60 lb range with no super heavyweight division.
• 6.Khabib Nurmagomedov is praised for retiring undefeated. He turned down enormous money to come back, which both hosts call the ideal way to exit the sport.
• 7.Pride FC contracts explicitly stated in all caps they did not test for steroids. Enson Inoue confirmed this on a previous podcast; Pride actively encouraged performance enhancement.
• 8.Alistair Overeem's TRT era is called the best argument for testosterone ever made. He went from a skinny light heavyweight who lost to Liddell to a K1 Grand Prix champion and UFC heavyweight title contender.
• 9.Calf kicks changed MMA in a clear historical dividing line. Poirier's fight with Jim Miller was an early example; Miller's calf kicks caused compartment syndrome requiring potential surgical release.
• 10.Connor McGregor had his calf destroyed in their fight. As a two-division champion he had never experienced calf kicks before, demonstrating how recently the technique became widespread.
• 11.Poirier competed his entire career clean, avoiding even unverified creatine. He only used Informed Sport-certified supplements; now retired, he uses peptides and feels better than during his fighting years.
• 12.Fighter pay discussion: Poirier notes you sign the contract willingly. Rogan compares it to his comedy club model where comedians earn 80% of revenue since they are the product.
• 13.Hyperbaric oxygen therapy lengthens telomeres. An Israeli university protocol of 60 sessions over 90 days produces biological age improvements equivalent to roughly 20 years.
• 14.Wearable recovery devices like Whoop and Oura Ring are counterproductive during fight camp. Poirier stopped using them while training because fighters must push through red-zone days regardless of readiness scores.
• 15.DC was pulled from the Olympics due to kidney failure from weight cutting. Jose Aldo dealt with kidney stones; Poirier felt kidney pain during several cuts, describing it as cramping in an unfamiliar back location.