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I'm trying not to compartmentalize.
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I'd rather the burn be everywhere except exactly where it's at.
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I'd love to spread this out a little bit, man, but I can't. It's getting hotter.
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Hey, what's going on, everybody?
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From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier.
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He's the number one-ranked UFC lightweight, fresh off his win against Conor McGregor at UFC 257.
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He does amazing work with his foundation, The Good Fight, and as fate would have it, he also has a hot sauce.
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Poirier's Louisiana Style, for my money, the best new sauce of the year.
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Dustin Poirier, welcome to the show.
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Thanks for having me, man.
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A long time fan, and uh spice lover as well.
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How do you think you'll do today?
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What is your headspace like going into this 10-wing gauntlet? I'm focused. I'm prepared.
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I've put in the work these last 31 years, and I think I can do it. Let's do it. That's good. Might taste familiar.
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It's in that Louisiana style. Right.
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It's got a little vinegar. Not too spicy. Yep. I like it.
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So, when Ronda Rousey was on the show, one of the things I found most fascinating about our conversation is her profound understanding of the human body and which ligaments and joints are most vulnerable.
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Thinking back on your last fight, what is it about the cumulative effect of calf kicks that makes them so devastating?
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I've been on both sides of the calf kick game and it's very painful because the swelling has nowhere to go.
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The way your calf is is constructed the swelling can't spread throughout the rest of your leg.
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It stays compartmentalized in the calf and it affects the nerves in your foot.
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It's called compartment syndrome.
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You can actually lose the use of your foot.
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When I had it done to me in New York a few years back I went to the hospital.
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They wanted to cut me open to relieve the pressure inside of my leg and it's painful, man. It's bad stuff.
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What is the most painful submission technique in your experience? The most painful?
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I I don't like leg stuff, man.
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Heel hooks, knee bars, anything with the legs, it just feels too funky for me. Oh, that's good, man. I like this one.
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Yeah, it might be my favorite in the lineup this year, actually. Right. That's good stuff.
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So, I noticed that the first thing that you asked for on your return home from Louisiana from Abu Dhabi was king cake and it seems like the locals really came through for you.
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For those outside of the bayou, how do you explain king cake and why is it so popular this time of year?
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It's always around Mardi Gras.
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It's always around uh the beginning of the year.
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It's it's king cake, man.
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It's it's a special It's It's kind of like a donut, a huge donut cake filled with cream cheese or chocolate, but it's Louisiana all the way, man.
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And and I knew it was king cake time and I was out in Abu Dhabi and I was just craving food cuz I was cutting weight and I was just thinking about king cakes.
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And then I know that your new Louisiana style hot sauce is just as the tip of the iceberg when it comes for your love of Cajun cuisine.
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Does Chef Poirier have a signature dish?
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Like if you had a cookbook, what would be the meal that's on the front cover? Dang, dude. I got so many.
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I love a good gumbo, man.
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I I love making my own roux and and sitting in front of a pot with a beer, stirring it.
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And it's gumbo season right now, you know, it's a little chilly outside.
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It's perfect time for gumbo.
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Everybody comes over when you cook a gumbo.
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It brings the family together. And I I love that.
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So, I would I would do a good gumbo on there. Slightly bit of spicier.
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So, I'm a big fan of your appearances on legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas's podcast because it really shows the side of you that's a student of fighting and at the heart really just a fan of combat sports.
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Is there a vet who you'd say took you under their wing or showed you the ropes when you were first starting out?
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There's two that come to mind that really helped me out a lot in my career is Tim Credeur, Louisiana's first jiu-jitsu black belt, and uh another one is the grandmaster of thug jitsu, Yves Edwards.
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Of all of your UFC opponents, who pound-for-pound has the heaviest strikes?
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Conor McGregor is the the heaviest handed guy I've ever fought.
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And I knew that going into this last one.
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So, I had a you know, I I had a good awareness and I had That was 6 years ago, but you don't forget those kind of things.
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Besides Conor, who's the most savage trash talker?
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Dude, it's got to be Chael Sonnen.
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When he was at his at his prime, He could sing.
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running his mouth, he was selling pay-per-views.
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Who would you describe as the most complete fighter you've ever faced?
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At the time, I would say Korean Zombie.
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When I fought him back in, I think 2012, maybe.
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He was probably the most complete guy that I've run into up to that point.
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Who's your favorite fighter to watch in the women's division? Amanda Nunes.
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I I really like watching Amanda Nunes, uh pound-for-pound goat, but I got to give some respect uh to my girl Joanna Jędrzejczyk. She's a beast, man. Such a savage.
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What's the most unique octagon entrance you've ever seen?
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We're talking We're talking about the UFC? Probably Tom Lawlor.
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Uh he he's done some crazy stuff.
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But there's this one guy I've heard about in New Jersey who played The Price Is Right theme song and then stood He was in the audience. People didn't know.
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Stood up and had a name tag on and out of the audience to the cage. That's amazing.
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He came and like, "Come on down." Most spicy you've had. Mhm.
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So, when you reach the pinnacle of a sport like you have, you know, there's often times a lot of folklore surrounding the difficult road that it took to get there.
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I've heard you say that some of your amateur fights had non-standard rules.
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What did you mean by that and can you give us an example?
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I've I've fought amateur fights where they asked, "Everybody raise your hand if you want to be allowed to throw elbows tonight."
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And it's amateur fighting.
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You shouldn't be allowed to throw elbows, but we're fighting at a rodeo arena.
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I mean, dude, everybody's coming back to the locker room split open, stitches everywhere, everybody's busted open.
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These kids just aren't at that level and they're allowing us to throw elbows.
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Or I've I've been to events where the same thing, we go to the rules meeting and they say, "A couple fights fell off of the card, so these fights are going to be 3-minute rounds, they're going to be 5-minute rounds."
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So, now you're fighting 5-minute 5-minute amateur rounds. It's crazy, man.
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Yeah, and you know, in seeing that documentary is one of the scenes that stands out is you're doing these shows in rodeo arenas and warming up in the horse stalls and you know, sometimes I'll talk to wrestlers about their early years or comedians about their early years and MMA fighters.
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It's kind of the same struggle.
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Can you give me one thing that you miss about those days and then another thing that you don't miss at all?
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Like one high and one low.
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One high for sure is all my family and and friends from Louisiana can drive to the event.
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Now I'm fighting across the world and not too many people can make it.
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I I really miss that having everybody there.
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One of the things I don't miss is shady promoters, man.
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There's some slime balls in this business and you got to chase them for your money and checks bounce or you break your hand and they don't cover the medicals. It's a slimy business.
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Smokey bear, I like that.
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All right, Dustin, we have a recurring segment on our show called Explain That Graham where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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I'll show you the picture.
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You just tell us the bigger story and first things first, it's you and fellow Hot Ones alum and Louisiana legend Theo Von.
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Has hanging out with the rat king inspired you at all to maybe start your own podcast or anything like that? It has, man. It has.
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He came out to South Florida this last training camp when I was preparing for Conor McGregor and we did a podcast like a little makeshift podcast inside of a strength and conditioning facility I was working out at.
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And I told him, dude, I would love to start a podcast and break down fights and talk about fights and and he thought it was a great idea.
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So yeah, he's definitely inspired me to to get behind the mic and camera and put some content out there.
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And then on the other side of it, I know that he's been training a little bit.
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What is the rat king's most impressive quality in the gym?
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He started training uh when he moved to Nashville and I know he's doing jujitsu, he's doing a lot of ghee jujitsu.
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So, I I would love to find out, actually.
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All right, up next, here's a post-fight vibe check after your win over Dan Hooker.
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Who in your career, when you think back, what has been the worst morning after bangover? The bangover, dude. Correct.
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I When I fought Justin Gaethje out in Arizona, he partially tore my quad.
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So, I couldn't really walk.
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Getting on the flight, I guess the elevation or whatever made my legs swell so much I couldn't bend my knee.
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I was just walking around with my leg was like a big link of sausage, bro.
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I'm dragging it around, I can't move it, it's shiny, it's red. That hurt.
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And then, last but not least, here you are with a hell of a plate.
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How would you describe the significance of the crawfish boil in Acadian culture?
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This is like doing family reunions every weekend whenever it's crawfish season.
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You know, everybody comes over, everybody brings something.
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And we all gather around a a table outside.
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We boil the crawfish, pour them over the table, drink beers, tell stories.
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It's just such a great time.
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And things like that is part of the reason me and my wife moved back to Louisiana when my daughter was born because I could not take that from our childhood. Really strong, man.
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Got like a little bitter bite there.
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So, the psychology of fighting is a topic of endless fascination.
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Can you explain what you mean by finding the calm in the chaos?
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Because I think for most people, instinct on that kind of confrontation is almost the exact opposite.
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You know, you're hearing your corner screaming, the crowd's going crazy, you see the boss there. This guy's here, yeah.
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But, in that moment, that's what I enjoy most about fighting.
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When I think about fights and stuff, it gives me anxiety.
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I'm like, "Dude, this is crazy."
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But, what I enjoy the most is walking through the fire and being put in that position.
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That's where I feel comfortable.
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The world slows down and nothing else matters but that moment, and it's a special time.
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It's the realest thing you can do.
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It's It's hand-to-hand combat in the moment with someone trying to take you out. I love it.
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Staying on the topic of athlete psychology, you know, according to a 2013 study by psychology professor Michael Kraus, fighters who smile in their weigh-in staredown are more likely to lose than ones who don't.
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How much stock do you put into that pre-fight staredown face-off?
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Like, does it matter at all?
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To me, I don't I don't think it does, cuz everybody's different, right?
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One fighter might be, you know, covering something up, trying to put on a front, smiling like he's tough, but he's really terrified, scared out of his mind.
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One guy might be really smiling because he loves the chaos. It's hard to tell, man.
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I don't take anything from those staredowns.
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Who's the craftiest fighter you've ever faced when it comes to the dark arts of playing mind games?
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Conor McGregor, the first time I fought him, 100% no doubt about it.
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The Art of War was on full display.
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He uh He He might have beat me before the fight started, man.
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Talked about Louisiana, talked about my family, talked about my skill set, whatever he could say.
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I was a young fighter at the time, and I just thought about everything he said too much.
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Then I would read comments, and I would read articles of what critics and media are saying and stuff like that.
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And as I matured in this sport, I realized I just got to focus on what I can control. Let's dive in, man. Let's dive in. Oh, yeah. Immediately. I'm going in again. There you go. There you go.
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Yeah, this is definitely a step up. Big jump.
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Wait till you try the next one. I have before.
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I won't mention any names cuz it's probably beneath you to address it in any specific way, but I am curious about your thoughts when it comes to these YouTuber boxing matches.
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There does seem to be two schools of thought.
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You know, those who think that the excitement around these events is good for the sport, and then the other school of thought being that this is a total embarrassment to boxing.
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Where do you fall on that spectrum?
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Right, if you're selling pay-per-views, it's entertainment, but at the same on that This is hot, man.
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Yeah, I think I poured too much on this one. Looks like it.
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I know the instructions told me to measure, I did not.
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I'm going to be honest, I did If you're selling pay-per-views and you're in the business of making money, it's entertainment.
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I understand that, so I know why these guys are getting pushed and all this stuff.
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But if you're a a true boxing fan, I see you on that side as well, why you don't want these to to be representing a sport that you love or the the casual fans out there when they talk about combat sports, you don't want them to think of somebody who's misrepresenting um people who've worked their whole entire lives to master a craft that very few do, you know? Um But it's business. I understand.
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I understand what's going on.
15:12
When you see like internet clout monsters cutting these WWE-style promos against like actual elite professional fighters, does that cross a line to you or is that just something that goes with the territory these days?
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It It crosses the line to me because I'm one of these guys who can really scrap.
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Um I I I wish that these guys would get the fights that they're calling for and get in there with real opponents.
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And then we see, you know, see who's talking after. Let's go, man. I'm I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it. Oh, man. Right away. Right away. Bio. Oh.
16:06
I got some milk over here, but I'm not touching it, dude.
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Do you still watch Food Network when you're cutting?
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That sounds like torture. Yes, I do.
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I went on a marathon of Guy's Grocery Games. Trying to chill.
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I probably watched three seasons.
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I've heard that you are trying to go after your own food show.
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Do you have an elevator pitch while you die on the bomb?
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Because, you know, when you're ready to go, you might have a home here at First We Feast. I got it here.
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Food fight with Dustin Poirier.
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We go to different cities.
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I check out a couple local gyms.
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I train with the guys there.
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Then we go to local uh restaurants.
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I get in the kitchen, cook a little bit, hear about their story. Food fight. Diamante. Boom. I'm sold. Show him burger. Order the run.
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20 episodes out the gate. stamp. My eyes watering. I'm starting to sweat.
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I'm trying not to compartmentalize.
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I'd rather the burn be everywhere except exactly where it's at.
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I'm going to spread this out a little bit, man, but I can't. It's getting hotter.
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I'm trying my best to be tough right now, man. Yeah.
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I don't even taste the flavor. It's just burn. The flavor is burn. Right. It's straight fire. Yeah.
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So, I know that one of the ways that you used to unwind between fights back in the day was you joined a bowling league in your native Louisiana.
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If you don't mind me asking, what's your average score?
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I was averaging about 165.
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I I know it's not the best, but it's an average. That's my average.
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You know, the camaraderie of just a bunch of guys that work all week and can't wait to be off of work, finally go to the bowling alley, get some beers down, knock some pins down, and have some fun, man.
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It's just uh good friendship, good camaraderie.
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Kind of the same thing that I I started going to jiu-jitsu gyms for.
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To obviously learn how to fight and get better, but then I realized that I enjoy being around these guys, you know, when I'm not choking them, we have good conversation. Let's go, man. Do I have to dab it? Oh, you know what?
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I like that cuz you know this show.
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You know, usually on these on these quarantine episodes, I hold off cuz it's so clumsy to try to do it and everybody's already over saucing, but but Dustin, since you know this show, let's do it. Bringing it back. Don't short me, young.
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Do not short me on this experience. I would never. I would never. This is the last dab.
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We call it the last dab cuz it's traditional around here to put a little extra on the last one.
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You don't have to if you don't want to. There it is, Dustin. Cheers. What a run. Oh, yeah. Deep, extremely peppery.
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Through the through the nostrils it burns.
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And instantly my cheeks start sweating.
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So, here we are at the end of our 10-round bout against the Wings of Death, and there's only one obstacle left in the way before the final bell.
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You know, I'm so proud of you making this hot sauce that is so distinctly you, in the Louisiana style, and even working with Heartbeat, which is one of the great makers.
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So, now that you have a sauce that's distinctly you, I want to play a hot sauce name association game, where I'll call out a couple of these bottles, and you just tell me the first fighter it reminds you of, okay?
20:07
A mild sauce like the classic, the first one that we tried.
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The mild sauce like a classic.
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Uh, a classic sauce is one you can use every day.
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Frankie Edgar is a fighter's fighter.
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You can always trust him. Trust on him.
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What about the 7 Pot, the TorchBearer Honey Badger?
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The Honey Badger, a buddy of mine named Jake Heun, the Honey Badger, actually.
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Unpredictable and wild man, just like this sauce.
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The Bomb Beyond Insanity.
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The Bomb Beyond Insanity, Mike Perry. Cuz he's insane.
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And then finally, the one we just had, Last Dab Apollo.
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Last Dab Apollo, let's go with Conor McGregor.
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This is that one-hitter quitter.
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All you need is one drop.
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Put the hot one strap on Dustin Poirier, taking on the Wings of Death, and living to tell the tale, and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you, my friend.
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This camera, that camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
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I have the good fight hot Check it out at the good fight group. com.
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We're currently crowdfunding for the project learn initiative with the Boys & Girls Club.
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We're doing some big things in Louisiana and across the world.
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And also, Fuerza Louisiana style hot sauce. It's great.
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It's true to a Louisiana hot sauce, but there's layers of flavor. You got to check it out. Great job, Dustin. Great job. I'm hurting, man. I'm hurting over here.
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It's about how I thought it would be at the beginning, smooth sailing, but when we get here, this area, if you're not careful with this with the dousing of the sauce, you're going to pay for it.
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And that's where I That's where I'm paying for it.
22:05
Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
22:06
This is Sean Evans checking in to say thank you so much for watching today's episode.
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If you enjoyed it, maybe like it.
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Maybe you maybe throw us a subscribe even if you're feeling generous.
22:15
And as long as you keep watching, [ __ ] it. I'll keep eating.