FORT WORTH, Texas (BVM) — Dustin Poirier is currently ranked the No. 1 Lightweight fighter in the UFC and the No. 6 UFC pound for pound fighter in the world. He has a record 27-6, with 14 of them being by knockout.

Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1989, Poirier originally had an interest in boxing, but decided to turn his attention to MMA when he learned of training in his hometown. 

Growing up in a place where not many famous fights take place, Poirier was determined to make it to the big stage.

His professional fighting career began in 2009, where he fought in regional promotional fights in Louisiana. He quickly earned a 7-0 record. His MMA debut came when he joined World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in 2010. Later that year, the WEC merged with the UFC, which meant Poirier was not a UFC fighter.

In 2011, Poirier stepped into the spotlight when he took at the time UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s place in a title defense due to a back injury. In his UFC debut in the featherweight division on Jan. 1, 2011, Poirier fought and beat Josh Grispi through a unanimous decision.

In the following years, Poirier went on to make a name for himself in the fighting world. He beat the likes of Max Holloway, Pablo Garza, and Akira Corassani. Following his loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 178 in September 2014, Poirier set his sights on the lightweight championship, and decided to move his weight up to that division.

Poirier improved his record even more in the lightweight division, beating fighters such as Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, and Eddie Alvarez. 

In April 2019, Poirier had a main event fight against Max Hollaway for the Interim UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 236. Poirier won the fight by unanimous decision.

💎 @DustinPoirier is golden #UFC236 pic.twitter.com/1hpiofo85J

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 14, 2019

Now interim champion, he earned a fight against at the time the UFC Lightweight Champion and No. 1 pound for pound fighter in the world, Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242. 

Khabib’s famous wrestling and grappling was ultimately too much for Poirier, and he was beaten by submission in the third round, defending his UFC Lightweight Championship.

"I can't get that ****** off of me man!"

Once Khabib gets a hold of you he doesn't let go.#UFC242 Replay | Midnight | BT Sport 3 HD pic.twitter.com/QseGiQComv

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 21, 2020

Poirier was heartbroken by the loss, telling the media after the fight “I just thought tonight I was going to fly back home to the United States undisputed world champ, so this really hurts.”

Though, this did not stop him as he continued his MMA career. Following his loss to Khabib, he beat Dan Hooker on UFC on ESPN in June 2020.

He beat Conor McGregor in a rematch at UFC 257 in January 2021, which has set him up for his next fight against McGregor in July of this summer. It is setting up to be quite the trilogy.

Poirier is also known for his charity work. He founded the Good Fight Foundation with his wife, Jolie, in April 2018. The foundation helps local communities and underserved populations.