Poirier admits he needs help after arrest video shows airport altercation

Dustin Poirier has issued a candid statement acknowledging he needs professional help, days after bodycam footage captured his arrest for public drunkenness at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. The video, released on Tuesday, shows the retired UFC lightweight cursing at gate agents and attempting to fight a responding officer before being taken into custody.

Poirier had initially posted a brief message to social media saying he was “working on myself” but offered little else until returning to Instagram with a fuller account of where he stands mentally.

“I’m at the point where I need some help, walking away from fighting hasn’t been easy on me and alcohol isn’t the answer,” Poirier wrote. “It has ruined my father’s life and I will not allow it to ruin mine, my family deserve me at 100%. I’m trying to do everything I can to get my mind right and take the right next steps.”

Poirier retired from MMA earlier in 2025 following a loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318 in New Orleans. The transition away from competition has clearly been difficult. In a previous interview with Full Send MMA, he had already flagged the danger signs, saying: “If I’m not working towards something or trying to better my family, I’m a danger to myself.”

Since stepping away from the cage, Poirier has remained connected to the sport — training and working with fighters at American Top Team and appearing as a regular contributor on the UFC on Paramount programme Deep Waters. But his public statement suggests that professional engagement has not been enough to ease the psychological weight of retirement.

Poirier’s willingness to speak openly about his struggles, rather than deflect or minimise them, has drawn widespread attention. The 40-year-old former interim UFC lightweight champion built a reputation over his career not only for his performances inside the octagon but for his charitable work through The Good Fight Foundation. His acknowledgement that alcohol poses a generational risk to his family adds a personal dimension to what might otherwise be read as a routine celebrity incident.