Strickland urges Bud Light to stand by Poirier after revealing alcohol-fuelled childhood shaped his harsh reaction

Sean Strickland has gone from one of Dustin Poirier’s sharpest critics to his most vocal defender in the days following the retired lightweight’s arrest on a public drunkenness charge at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, publicly calling on Bud Light to stand by the fighter amid reports the brand is considering cutting ties with him.

In an Instagram video, Strickland explained that his initial anger at Poirier was rooted in his own painful history with alcohol rather than the facts of the situation. Growing up in an abusive household, Strickland has previously spoken about the destructive role his father’s drinking played in his childhood — and he admitted that seeing a beer bottle involved in Poirier’s incident immediately triggered that trauma.

“This bottle to me represents hell,” Strickland said, holding up a Bud Light. “The version I got was my dad getting home at 4 o’clock, grabbing a cold beer and becoming a f*cking monster. Potentially ruined my life. Ruined his life. Ruined his dad’s life and his dad’s life before him. This bottle to me represents a lot of misery. So whenever I see people use it, especially in that manner, it makes me angry. That’s my own flaw as a man. I’ve got to work past that.”

After reaching out to Poirier directly and hearing the full context behind the airport incident, Strickland said his perspective shifted entirely. The former UFC middleweight champion had already issued a public apology to Poirier following their conversation, and his Instagram post expanded on why that change of heart came about.

“There’s so many Americans that drink this and they love life,” Strickland added. “They go play catch with their son and I love that. But sadly that’s not the case for a lot of people. A lot of Americans are f*cked up. They don’t have to go to the dealer on the corner. They can just walk into the supermarket and buy as many of these as they want.”

Strickland’s public appeal to Bud Light comes after Poirier revealed that at least one major sponsor had already dropped him in the wake of the arrest, with the Louisiana native saying he expected further fallout. Strickland, framing his message directly at the brand, argued that abandoning Poirier now would be the wrong call given the broader struggles the fighter has openly discussed since retiring from competition.