Dustin Poirier won’t be too far from the Octagon after his UFC retirement.
The former UFC interim lightweight champion fought his final fight at UFC 318, retiring after a unanimous decision loss to BMF Champion Max Holloway in his home state of Louisiana.
Poirier was one of the UFC’s biggest stars and highest-paid, too. After all, ‘The Diamond’ demolished Conor McGregor twice in back-to-back fights in 2021 and fought for five titles in his 41-fight career.
Less than two weeks after his retirement fight, Poirier seems to have made up his mind on what’s next.
Dustin Poirier to focus on broadcasting career with ESPN
In April, Poirier worked alongside Chael Sonnen as a desk analyst for ESPN as part of the UFC 314 broadcast.
A number of UFC fighters have had successful broadcasting careers on the desk, such as Alan Jouban and Michael Chiesa and others like Daniel Cormier and Paul Felder have gone on to do commentary.
Poirier looks to join them in his post-UFC career.
“Looking forward to getting back on the ESPN desk,” Poirier wrote on X on Thursday.
“Going to start focusing on that now,” Poirier said of fight analysis.
Poirier has fought much of the lightweight roster, giving him valuable insight as he goes from a fighter to a broadcaster.
Dustin Poirier was removed from the UFC roster this week
It didn’t take long for Poirier to exit the UFC rankings post-retirement, leaving the top-5 after so many years.
On Wednesday, Poirier’s name was officially removed from the active UFC roster, with fans saying their final goodbyes online.
Despite never winning the undisputed championship, Poirier will go down as one of the greatest lightweights of all time.
The former interim champion has a resume better than some champions, having beaten the likes of former UFC champs Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, and Michael Chandler (Bellator).