Dustin Poirier valiantly lost his UFC 302 title clash against lightweight champion Islam Makahchev in the fifth round. While this may have been ‘Diamond’s last shot at the lightweight title, the 35-year-old earned praise from fans and has cemented his place as one of the best lightweights in UFC history because of the heart and courage he showed in the octagon.

But it turns out that the Lafayette native not only showed heart and courage in the fight itself but even before it too. In a recent interview with veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, the former interim champion revealed that he had gone into UFC 302 with injured ribs.

“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 Helwani’s ‘MMA Hour Show.’

While Poirier, due to his pride and warrior spirit didn’t want to dwell too much on the subject as it may take away from Makhachev’s victory, he was further needled by the journo, who asked him if the injury was severe enough “To the point where you considered pulling out?”

To which the UFC legend revealed that since he was fighting for the title, he didn’t even entertain the thought of pulling out, despite his wife insisting he do so.

“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’m fighting for the lightweight title’, like I wasn’t pulling out,” he added.

The Makhachev bout, of course, was tough on Poirier’s body, and he sustained even more injuries from it. “Nose is broken bad, rib is broken and my ACL is partially torn,” Poirier tweeted on June 6. But the former interim champ plans to take some time off to let his body and brain heal properly. Along with his injuries, the Lafayette native made some surprising revelations about retirement if the UFC 302 main event had gone his way.

Dustin Poirier confirms he was determined to retire at UFC 302

After his loss to Makhachev on UFC 302, the lightweight star had indicated to Joe Rogan in the post-fight octagon interview that he was seriously considering retirement. “I don’t know. I got a little girl I love and I gotta see. I think this could be it, honestly, Joe,” Poirier told Rogan.

However, in the press conference following the event, he sounded much more unsure and conflicted. ‘Diamond’, who made his third first UFC appearance on the Prudential Center, Newark card told reporters that he would be leaving “a lot of money on the table” by retiring.

But the ATT team member told Helwani that he would have retired if he had won the lightweight title on UFC 302. “By the way, if you would have won, would you have retired on the spot? That was the plan?” the New Yorker asked.

‘Diamond’ simply responded with: “Yeah. Mm hmm.” The host was taken aback by this revelation. “Really, reached the mountain top and you were gonna retire right then and there?” he asked. To which Dustin Poirier poignantly observed: “With the ultimate view.” What are your thoughts on Poirier’s revelations?