Dustin Poirier confirms he had rib injury going into UFC 302, says his wife wanted him to pull out

Dustin Poirier says he did suffer a rib injury in the lead-up to his UFC 302 fight against Islam Makhachev.

Poirier was headlining UFC 302 against Makhachev in what he called his final crack at UFC gold. Unfortnately for Poirier, he came up short as he suffered a fifth-round submission loss.

Following the fight, Yves Edwards came out and said that Poirier had suffered a rib injury in training camp which kept him from grappling. Now, over a week after the fight, Poirier has confirmed that was the case.

“Yeah, I bust my ribs in camp, but, of course, I don’t wanna like talk about that. I don’t think it changed anything or the way I fought. But, yeah, I smashed my ribs up bad,” Poirier said on The MMA Hour.

When asked if he ever thought of having to pull out of the fight, Dustin Poirier says he didn’t, but his wife wanted him too knowing how much pain he was in and how little he was able to grapple.

“Just my wife wanted me to, but I wasn’t gonna. It was too close though, man. I was already halfway through camp, I was like I’m fighting for the belt. I was halfway through training and I’m fighting for the lightweight title, like I wasn’t pulling out,” Poirier added.

Poirier ended up fighting through the injury and had some success against Makhachev. However, he still came up short as he lost by submission. Following the loss, Dustin Poirier hinted at retirement, and on Monday, he said he is leaning towards retirement. However, Poirier says the decision hasn’t been 100 percent made, but he says he is taking it day by day.

If Dustin Poirier does retire, he will end his career with a record of 30-9 and one No Contest. Poirier is the former interim lightweight champion and has notable wins over Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler, and Anthony Pettis among others.