THE FEEL-GOOD MOMENTS stored coming for Dustin Poirier, one constructing on one other.
It was a UFC Combat Evening in April 2015, 4 years into his Octagon profession, and Poirier was loving the sensation of lastly strolling into the cage as a light-weight, his pure weight class, after reducing an additional 10 kilos to featherweight for his first 11 UFC appearances. Minutes later, he felt the enjoyment of profession renewal when his first-round knockout of Diego Ferreira put Poirier again within the win column simply months after he’d suffered a momentum-halting defeat by the hands of Conor McGregor. Pocketing a $50,000 bonus for efficiency of the night time felt fairly candy, too.
However Poirier derived his most palpable jubilation that night time from what UFC matchmaker Joe Silva mentioned to him instantly after the struggle. As they shared a congratulatory handshake within the cage, Silva reminded Poirier, who’s from Lafayette, Louisiana, that the UFC had a struggle card scheduled two months later in New Orleans.
“[Silva] mentioned he’ll save me a spot if I needed it,” Poirier instructed reporters afterward, a smile unfold throughout his face. “New Orleans, I am coming dwelling, child!”
That June, Poirier made the two-hour drive from his hometown to the Large Straightforward, carrying with him the hopes and goals of Bayou Nation. The UFC’s first New Orleans occasion in 4 years initially was to be headlined by fellow Lafayette native Daniel Cormier, however he was moved to a lightweight heavyweight title struggle on a special night time. Lafayette welterweight Alan Jouban additionally was scheduled for the cardboard, however he pulled out with an damage. That left one native hero for the group to make noise for on the Smoothie King Middle.
It must be no shock that Poirier’s walkout blew the roof off the home. Colourful fleur-de-lis flags of Acadiana, honoring his dwelling area’s Cajun heritage, waved within the stands as he made his approach towards the Octagon. Poirier handed many acquainted faces within the crowd, later saying, “I knew I might have them on my aspect. They’re bayou individuals. That is the way in which we’re.”
Poirier one way or the other managed to rein in his feelings through the stroll, making it an lively precursor to the struggle itself. Poirier wasted no time rewarding his jazzed-up followers, sending Yancy Medeiros to the canvas twice on the way in which to a knockout win in 2 minutes, 38 seconds. It was over nearly earlier than the welcome-home cheers had died down.
“I am driving straight dwelling to Lafayette, not too removed from right here,” Poirier mentioned when requested through the postfight information convention how he would have fun. “We’re boiling some crawfish.”
If that quick night time’s work left Poirier wishing for extra time within the down-home highlight, he is about to get it. For the primary time in a decade, the UFC can be again in New Orleans on Saturday for UFC 318 (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV; prelims at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+). Poirier is headlining in a trilogy struggle with Max Holloway.
This dwelling sport can be much more particular for Poirier than the final one, as a result of there will not be a subsequent one.
POIRIER HAS BEEN speaking about retirement for years. He additionally has been pushing for a return to New Orleans. Lastly, all of it got here collectively in April, and Poirier gleefully went public with the information whereas he was in Inexperienced Bay, Wisconsin, for the NFL draft. Poirier sat on the set of “The Pat McAfee Present” in a black New Orleans Saints hoodie, speaking about how honored he felt to announce one of many Saints’ draft picks that night time. And talking of bulletins …
“We’re coming again to New Orleans. The UFC is coming again to New Orleans in July,” Poirier mentioned. “July 19 goes to be my closing struggle. I’ll lay the gloves down in Louisiana, the place it began for me. The entire journey began there.”
That factors to a motive this dwelling sport is much more significant than the one a decade in the past: Poirier is much more deeply Lafayette now. He has all the time celebrated his roots, however again in 2015 he was spending a lot of his time in South Florida, the place he educated with American High Staff. However when he and his spouse, Jolie, grew to become dad and mom the next 12 months, they moved again to Louisiana so their daughter could be round prolonged household.
“Combating, you need to be egocentric,” Poirier instructed ESPN again then. “However I did not need to take that away from her childhood.”
On the similar time, the Poiriers grew to become more and more concerned in serving their neighborhood. They auctioned off a number of of his struggle kits to lift cash for native causes, which led to the creation of the Good Combat Basis, a nonprofit that gives meals, faculty provides and help to underserved communities in south Louisiana.
His struggle profession may be at its finish level, however Poirier is simply getting began.
It’s each puzzling and ideal that Holloway is Poirier’s closing opponent. Some could marvel why Poirier, who owns two victories over Holloway, would give him a 3rd shot. Would possibly the attraction be that this matchup gives Poirier a possibility to stroll off into the Lake Pontchartrain sundown with Holloway’s symbolic BMF title belt slung over his shoulder? Or perhaps it is merely that Holloway, a former featherweight champion who has landed probably the most vital strikes in UFC historical past (3,457), certified for Poirier’s quick checklist of swan tune necessities?
“I mentioned, ‘legends solely,'” Poirier instructed McAfee in April, reflecting on what he instructed UFC matchmakers as they had been seeking to ebook his finale.
Poirier additionally appreciates the full-circle nature of the dance with Holloway. “I used to be his first struggle within the UFC again in 2012,” Poirier mentioned, “and he’ll be my final struggle within the UFC.”
Such symmetry is as uncommon in MMA as a profitable profession ending. The closing chapter’s plotline remains to be to be decided, however contemplating that the ultimate act will happen in Poirier’s yard — and contemplating that that yard is situated within the coronary heart of Louisiana’s festive tradition — there certainly can be a celebration regardless of who will get his hand raised this weekend. And since Poirier will not have to chop weight ever once more, perhaps this time his crawfish boil can embrace andouille sausage and end with pecan pralines.
HOMETOWN FIGHTS DON’T occur on daily basis or all over the place. The alternatives come up extra fluidly for fighters who hail from common UFC locations. Las Vegas has been the positioning of greater than 250 struggle playing cards within the promotion’s 32-year historical past, way over anyplace else. The New York Metropolis metropolitan space, which reaches throughout the Hudson River to incorporate Newark, New Jersey, has seen almost two dozen playing cards. London has had 16, Rio de Janeiro 12.
Rio was the setting for unquestionably probably the most iconic picture within the historical past of hometown fights. It occurred in January 2012 at UFC 142, the place the headliner was a champion in his third UFC bout — however the first in his adopted dwelling metropolis. José Aldo was within the midst of a decade-long successful streak that finally would attain 18 fights, establishing him as a legend of the game. When his knee to the chin of Chad Mendes knocked out the featherweight challenger with one second left in Spherical 1, the group noise at HSBC Area was deafening.
Feeling the second, Aldo raced out of the cage to be along with his individuals. He jumped over the cageside seats and headed straight into the euphoric, bouncing crowd, with UFC safety in sizzling pursuit. The followers engulfed the champ, lifting him on their shoulders and chanting his identify. It was a chaotic, breathtaking scene of unbridled pleasure.
“I believe this was a approach of giving again the love they confirmed me,” Aldo mentioned backstage by a Portuguese interpreter. “That constructive vitality was so good, so I attempted to provide them a victory and run to the group. I believe there’s nothing higher than being with them.”
Aldo did not get the nickname “The King of Rio” for nothing.
A few of the most memorable hometown moments come when the UFC visits a metropolis not on its regular road-trip route, as a result of that may imply the cardboard has been constructed round a neighborhood hero the corporate is backing. Maybe the most effective — and loudest — instance was in 2014, when the Octagon traveled to Dublin for simply the second time. An Irish prospect in his third UFC struggle was the headliner at a raucous 3Arena, and afterward the game was by no means the identical.
McGregor mentioned he was going to complete Diego Brandao within the first spherical, and he did, a lot to the delight of a legion of tricolor flag-waving supporters. Inside a 12 months, McGregor could be interim featherweight champ and the largest star within the UFC, however on this night time early in his Octagon profession, McGregor’s self-belief was already off the charts. And he linked that to his hometown highlight.
“There’s not a person alive that may come on this soil and beat me,” McGregor mentioned within the cage, drawing yet one more roar.
Hometown fights all the time generate ramped-up vitality with star-making potential, even when the native fighter isn’t the headliner. Of the UFC’s 11 present champions, six have fought in or close to their dwelling bases, although most of these fights occurred earlier than their title reigns and totally on undercards.
There have been a few notable current exceptions. Final month, Merab Dvalishvili defended his bantamweight title towards Sean O’Malley in the primary occasion of UFC 316 in Newark, a brief distance from the place the champion trains on Lengthy Island, New York. And a 12 months in the past, UFC 301 headliner Alexandre Pantoja retained his flyweight belt by beating Steve Erceg in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.
However whereas combating at dwelling is usually a dream state of affairs, some fighters expertise it as a nightmare. The struggle week routine could be thrown off. Distractions pile upon distractions. Everybody from distant members of the family to long-lost highschool classmates comes out of the woodwork searching for free tickets. And on struggle night time, everybody within the area is specializing in you, you, you.
One vocal detractor of combating native is heavyweight Derrick Lewis, who has had 4 UFC fights at dwelling in Houston. He gained the primary two however misplaced the others, with a kind of defeats coming in a 2021 struggle with Ciryl Gane for the interim championship.
“I do not even need to expertise that ever once more,” Lewis mentioned on “The MMA Hour” shortly after the Gane struggle. “It was an excessive amount of strain. An excessive amount of, to the purpose the place I actually was calling individuals as much as let me get some weed off of them so I can loosen up my nerves throughout struggle day.”
That sentiment may perplex followers accustomed to watching MMA warriors akin to Lewis, the UFC’s all-time chief in knockouts, bravely step right into a cage many times to do battle. However simply as completely different athletes have completely different talent units, in addition they differ of their emotional make-up. For some, there’s an overload of unease performing in entrance of a large assortment of family and friends inside the shadow of their homes.
“It makes or breaks guys,” Duke Roufus, head coach on the Milwaukee health club Roufusport, instructed ESPN. “I’ve some guys on my group that dwell for combating right here on the town, and a few guys who say they’re going to by no means struggle at dwelling once more. They really feel an excessive amount of strain. However I consider in combating at dwelling, and I attempt to get my guys to concentrate on the entire benefits. Like, it is a lot simpler to sleep in your personal mattress.”
If one in every of his fighters wants an additional emotional push, Roufus suggests trying on the state of affairs from the opponent’s perspective.
“It is intimidating combating in another person’s hometown,” Roufus mentioned. “So I inform my guys, ‘It is higher whenever you’re combating in entrance of your individuals.’ It brings one thing out of you.”
Roufus is aware of from expertise. He has been on the “away group” greater than as soon as within the UFC. He traveled with Jared Gordon in 2019 to struggle Charles Oliveira in Sao Paulo, Oliveira’s hometown, then accompanied Paul Felder to tackle Dan Hooker in Auckland, New Zealand.
Earlier than turning to teaching, he was a multiple-time world champion in kickboxing and in addition competed in boxing. Between the 2 sports activities, he fought 11 occasions in Milwaukee. He gained all 11. “My dad used to sit down within the entrance row at my fights,” Roufus mentioned. “He obtained me began within the sport. I wasn’t shedding in entrance of him. That was my perspective.”
That is additionally the perspective of Roufusport’s star fighter, former UFC light-weight champion Anthony Pettis. He gained the title in 2013 by submitting Benson Henderson in the primary occasion of UFC 164 in Milwaukee, town the place he was born and raised. Earlier than Pettis’ second within the highlight, he obtained to observe the prelim fights of two Roufusport teammates, Erik Koch and Chico Camus — on TV in his lounge at dwelling. Pettis lived only a 10-minute drive from the Bradley Middle.
“When it was time for Anthony to be on the area,” Roufus recalled, “he walked into the place cooler than an ice dice. He was able to go.”
Strain? What strain?
“The best way I have a look at it,” Roufus mentioned, “strain is what makes diamonds.”
Maybe that adage will bode properly for this weekend’s primary occasion homeboy, Dustin Poirier. His nickname, in any case, is “The Diamond.”