Longtime UFC welterweight Matt Brown offered support for MMA legend Dustin Poirier after his recent arrest for being drunk in public.
Poirier was arrested at an airport in Atlanta on Father’s Day after appearing belligerent and threatening to police officers and airport staff. He was arrested for public drunkenness and later released, though he faces up to one year in jail if convicted.
Since the bodycam video of Poirier’s arrest incident came out, many fighters have offered their support to “The Diamond,” who admitted he needs help for his alcoholism.
One of them is Brown, who got the nickname “The Immortal” because he once survived a near-fatal heroin overdose. Brown has been open with his struggles with substance abuse in his life, and so there is no one better to talk about these issues than someone like Brown who has dealt with them before, only to overcome them and emerge on the other side as a better version of himself.
Matt Brown Backs Dustin Poirier
Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s “The Fighter vs. The Writer” podcast, Brown backed Poirier as the UFC legend goes through one of the toughest periods in his life following his retirement from MMA last summer.
“I’ll say this about the Dustin Poirier situation, I don’t know Dustin personally, but from what I know of him in the public eye and experiences that I hear from others — we can’t let one night define Dustin Poirier. That’s all it comes down to. Dustin is in the public eye and he’s known as a good guy so we see that and it’s just so out of character for him. So we start questioning what his mental health is? I think he’s perfectly fine. He recognized the problem, said ‘I need help.’ What’s that saying in (Alcoholics Anonymous)? Acceptance is the first step or whatever. He accepts it. He knows where he’s at. He’s going to be fine,” Brown said.
“I don’t think this is a big story. I don’t think it’s a big problem. To me, that does not define Dustin Poirier. I know who I believe Dustin Poirier is, and I don’t think that person is gone. I think he’s still a good dude. I think he’s an intelligent enough guy. We hear him speaking. He’s not punch drunk or anything. He had a (expletive) bad night. Airports (expletive) suck anyway.”
Matt Brown Says He Has Dustin Poirier’s Back
Despite Poirier going through one of the hardest periods of his life right now, Brown said he has his back unconditionally, as does the entire MMA community.
“If this becomes a common thing, like others in the sport where things like this become common news, we should probably have more public conversation about this person needs help. I think he’s going to be perfectly (expletive) fine. He owned it. It’s not just nothing at all. But he owned it. Good to do that, Dustin. Own it, fix it and because you’ve been such a good dude, and because you are a respectable fighter in this community, we’ve all got your back, bro. Now go take care of yourself. We’ve got your back. Just don’t repeat it,” Brown said.
Matt Brown Offers Support to Dustin Poirier: ‘We’ve Got Your Back’