Dwyane Johnson praises Dustin Poirier for the way he handled UFC 291 loss: “Love this perspective so much”

By Cole Shelton - July 31, 2023

Dwayne Johnson has nothing but praise for Dustin Poirier.

Dwayne Johnson and Dustin Poirier

In the main event of UFC 291, Poirier was rematching Justin Gaethje for the vacant BMF title. It was a highly-anticipated fight but in the second round, it was Gaethje who won as he landed a beautiful head kick that knocked Poirier out cold.

After the loss, Dustin Poirier spoke to the media about how the loss stings but isn’t letting it keep him down as he made it clear he has won at life and it wasn’t a funeral for him.

“It’s heartbreaking. But I keep coming back like Pookie. It keeps calling me. I can’t stop. I might need another hit. I don’t know. I’m just taking it one day at a time, one minute at a time right now,” Dustin Poirier said after UFC 291. “But I’m happy right now. My life is good, my family is good, my daughter is excited for me to get home. We’re not at a funeral here. I’ve won. I’ve won life. I already won. Where I come from, I’ve already won.”

Dwayne Johnson praises Dustin Poirier

After Dustin Poirier’s press conference, Dwayne Johnson took to Twitter to praise ‘The Diamond’ for the way he handled the loss.

“Love this perspective so much. Life lessons we can pass on to our little ones. Whatever it is that you sign up for, make sure you absolutely love it because anything can happen – and it’s does. Love this dude. Massive respect brother @DustinPoirier,” Dwayne Johnson tweeted about Dustin Poirier.

There is no question that Dustin Poirier has taken his UFC 291 loss to Justin Gaethje in stride. His classy comments drew the praise of many of his peers and of course most recently Dwayne Johnson.

With the loss, Poirier has dropped to 29-8 and one No Contest in his career. Before the KO loss to Gaethje, he was coming off a submission win over Michael Chandler back in November.


Topics:

Dustin Poirier Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson UFC