The greatest fight a lot of people ever saw took place in a boxing ring on May 7, 2005, when Diego Corrales defeated Jose Luis Castillo.
It was a brutal, back-and-forth war finally won in dramatic fashion by “Chico” in the 10th round. When it was over, Corrales took a while to recover, his wife Michelle by his side every step of the way. The dust eventually settled, and Corrales agreed to a rematch with Castillo.
“Do you really want to do this again?” Michelle asked her husband. “What can I expect?”
“The same thing you saw last time,” Diego answered.
On April 14, 2018, Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and Justin Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) went to war in the UFC octagon, Poirier halting his foe in the fourth round. On Saturday in Salt Lake City, they’ll do it again.
What was Mrs. Poirier’s reaction?
“What’s understood doesn’t need to be explained,” said Dustin. “She’s been with me from the first fight. She knows what this is. She knows my commitment, and she’s seen it here with me in training camp. She’s seen my focus and she’s seen this numerous times over the last 15 years of me fighting. She knows what I’m walking into, and she knows my dedication and commitment to this. And she doesn’t have to say anything. It’s an unwritten agreement that we both know.”
That unwritten agreement between Dustin and Jolie Poirier is that when he puts on the gloves to fight, it’s going to be a fight. Sure, “The Diamond” would love to get out of there unscathed in 30 seconds, pick up his check and go back home to Louisiana with his wife and daughter, but if there are dark places to be found in the octagon, Poirier not only knows them, but he embraces going there.
“Of course,” he said. “That’s why I said yes to this fight.”
It’s why Gaethje said the same thing when approached about the rematch, and though a continuation of their first meeting is expected, Poirier doesn’t see it as the same fight.
“It’s a new fight, for sure,” he said. “We’re both completely different. If we’re not, we wasted a lot of years at the highest level. We’re both going to be better and more evolved fighters. I think the things I did better than him five years ago, I’ve gotten better at, and he has, as well. I still think I’m better than him and we got to find out.”
One thing remains the same, though, and while this main event has the second edition of the BMF belt attached to it, you get the impression that the pair would fight in an empty warehouse with nothing but pride on the line, because Poirier knows that Gaethje is just as comfortable in those places other fighters don’t want to go to as he is.
“I need that. I need that. Gaethje carries himself in that way where people know it’s going to be a car wreck, people know it’s going to be chaos. And I think he likes people to think that about him, as well. And, for sure, he has the right to hold his head high because he brings those kind of crazy fights. But there are certain times whenever you sign the line against another fighter and you know that they are really that. And if he doesn’t know that, especially after fighting me and being around me and seeing my career, if he doesn’t think that he’s walking into the thing that everybody thinks he is, he’s lying to himself. He knows. And I know that I do my best work in those moments, in that dark area. And that’s just what fighting is to me. That is fighting.”
Few in this era have done it better. Sure, there are more accomplished fighters in terms of world titles and the pound-for-pound list, but the 34-year-old from Lafayette is not only skilled, but the kind of guy you want on your side if a fight breaks out somewhere. And he appreciates that the fans feel that was about him.
“Fighting is life,” he said. “And that’s why I approach these interviews the way I do, that’s why I fight the way I do. There’s nothing to hide and it’s the truth. I would love to be remembered for it, for leaving it all out there, for busting my ass, not cutting corners, not being afraid of the fire. In the words of Teddy Atlas, we’re firemen, and we try to control these flames. And that’s what this is. I’m running into a burning building July 29th, and I know that, and knowing that is momentum. Mentally, for me, knowing that I’m walking into that, whenever sh-t hits the fan, blood’s flying, I’m hurt, he’s hurt, we’re exhausted, I knew I was getting into that. It’s not a surprise. I expect that and I want people to know that I expected that every time out, even when it went smooth, even when it wasn’t that, I expected it every time.
“I just want to be remembered for being a true fighter. When I put that ‘WAR’ hat on and walk to the arena July 29, I know what I’m walking into and I’m ready for whatever outcome it’s going to be, but I’m going to give it my all. That’s just my mindset.”
This story first published at UFC.com.
