Dustin Poirier scared fans silly by announcing his UFC 299 fight against Benoit Saint-Denis had been canceled, a statement he withdrew later that day. Poirier reflected on the madness that day and admitted it should not have gone that far.
The drama started on Feb. 1 when Poirier tweeted, “My fights off.” He reportedly told MMA journalist Ariel Helwani that no contract was signed at the time the fight was announced and the various parties could not reach an agreement. There was a sigh of relief four hours later when Poirier announced the fight would remain intact. Poirier chalked it up to miscommunication between him and his management at the time, a claim he stood by when speaking to CBS Sports.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Poirier said. “There was kind of some back-and-forth between me and my management. I gave them a deadline. The deadline didn’t get passed on. It was a miscommunication, honestly. I didn’t hear anything by that day. I said, ‘You know what? I told you a deadline and I’m standing by my word. I’m out!’ It was a mess. It should have never got that far. The fight is happening on Saturday.”
Check out the full interview with Dustin Poirier below.
It worked out in the end but the brief scare highlighted UFC’s increased habit of publicly announcing fights without signed bout agreements. UFC fighters have next to no leverage against the company but Poirier is better situated than most. He has parlayed two recent wins over Conor McGregor into a successful hot sauce business and his nonprofit organization The Good Fight Foundation. When asked what compels him to sign the dotted line these days, he evoked his competitive spirit.
“The excitement,” Poirier said. “I want to be nervous and scared and ‘Oh, shit. This is a crazy fight.’ It’s the same reason I said yes to the Gaethje fight. Because I knew it was going to be a car crash. The same reason I said yes to the Michael Chandler fight. Because I knew it was going to be a car crash. This is another one of those situations.
“This guy is young and hungry. He’s finished his last five opponents. Those are the fights that make me say, ‘Oh, shit!’ That’s what I want to feel the whole training camp every morning I wake up. I want to think of that.”
UFC 299 is headlined by UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera 2. Poirier and Saint-Denis will fight in a five-round co-main event in the lightweight division.
