Since his victory over Connor McGregor with a second-round knockout at UFC 257, life has been a whirlwind for Dustin Poirier.
There were the usual post-fight media obligations to help break down his strategy during the fight and to pick his brain on whom he wanted to fight next. There were also the new opportunities that come along with taking out one of the sport’s biggest names. Even with a loaded calendar of tasks and responsibilities, Poirier is quick to let you know that this isn’t anything new for him.
“It’s definitely been a busy two weeks, but it’s not a position that I haven’t been in before,” he said. “I’m the former interim world champion, and I’ve been ranked No. 1 a few times in my career, so it’s a familiar position.”
Along with his training to remain sharp for whoever his next opponent is, Poirier is also continuing to build on his legacy away from the octagon through charitable actions through his foundation, The Good Fight; his entrance into the health and wellness space with REAP CBD; and his culinary offering with Poirier’s Louisiana Style Hot Sauce.
I managed to get a few moments of Poirier’s time to discuss those endeavors and what he’s looking to put his stamp on next.
Have you had time to sit back and enjoy the win over McGregor?
Honestly, no I haven’t. I’m still digesting this whole thing. The work hasn’t stopped. I’ve been busy since I went back to the hotel after the fight and it hasn’t stopped. I’m just looking forward to a couple of down days. In the next two weeks, I’m taking my wife and daughter to Park City, Utah. We’re going to go skiing, build some snowmen and I’m just going to do that to decompress a little. I’m looking forward to that. But, until then, work continues.
How did the opportunity to create your own hot sauce come about?
I just want to give such big credit to Heartbeat Hot Sauce, the quality of products they put out and their attention to detail. I’m so happy that Heartbeat and Al [Bourbouhakis] decided to take this leap of faith with me and launch Poirier’s Louisiana Style Hot Sauce. I’m from Louisiana and hot sauce is a big thing. I actually live 35-40 minutes away from a tabasco plant in Avery Island. Louisiana style hot sauce is crystal, tabasco and the list goes on of vinegar-based and cayenne pepper-based hot sauces. It’s something I grew up around and something I grew up eating in gumbos and jambalayas. In any cajun dish, there’s hot sauce somewhere around.
I love to cook. I’m a foodie. I love food, different cultures and I just think food brings people together. There are so many stories you can tell through the culinary arts and I really enjoy that. During the beginning of the pandemic, we were locked down and quarantined in our home. The spark really turned into a flame of casing this way to get my foot in the door of the culinary world and hot sauce just felt like the thing to do. I brought it up to [business manager] Ben Goldberg and my team at Dulcedo [Management] and they did an incredible job of reaching out and talking to different companies because we knew we wanted to have a proprietary hot sauce. We didn’t want to slap my name on a white label and try to sell it. I wanted it to be real and genuine. Al and Heartbeat Hot Sauce came back with the same vibes and it just seemed to mesh perfectly and we started developing the flavor profile, the ingredient list and boom. Now, we have Poirier’s Louisiana Hot Sauce and I’m very proud and I want everyone to try it.
Was there anything about going through the process of selecting the ingredients and establishing the taste profile that surprised you?
In Louisiana dishes, the base usually has garlic, celery, onion, bell pepper – we usually have those things in everything. At the beginning of this, I thought I would try and do a spinoff of that and do a hot sauce with those things in it but I had no idea of what emulsifies and what could be put in a bottle, has a smooth texture and those small details. Talking to Al at the beginning of this, we kind of nixed a bunch of those ingredients that I thought would be cool and we kept the ones that were based in Louisiana cooking.
With Al’s expertise, he knew what would and wouldn’t work out in a hot sauce. We picked a few ingredients to keep it simple. We didn’t want the ingredients list to run around the entire bottle. We picked the things that would make this stand out, like aged peppers, sea salt, celery and garlic. Simple things like that created this incredible flavor profile that I’m not only selling because it has my name on it but I’m pushing this because I want it on every table.
You said you sold out recently. What does that feel like to know something you had a huge hand in creating has resonated with people?
That was incredible and it feels good. we should be restocked so sales can continue. I was recently on Hot One’s with Sean Evans and I’m excited about that and that will get a lot of eyes on the hot sauce. I was proud before the sale out. I was proud when Noah [Chaimberg] from Heatonist and Al said that this was a success before we sold out before fight week. Just before initial sells, the average amount of bottles we were moving a week and people’s interest along with the response and reviews that we were getting was great. People love it and they love it as much as I do and that makes me happy.
You signed a partnership deal with Celsius last month. As an athlete who is very particular about what they put in their body, why did that make sense for you?
It came together great because Celsius is a product that I was using before this came about and my wife also drinks it. It was a great fit when I found out they wanted to work with me. When I got the call, I probably had cans in my fridge. When things like that come together, you know it’s the right move. When you’re actually using the products and the company reaches out. It’s simple ingredients and it’s very low in calories. When I’m in training camp and trying to cut my weight, the calories are important for me and the energy boost.
200 milligrams of caffeine is perfect for me for training sessions because it doesn’t get me jittery and I don’t have a crash. The green tea, ginger and things they put in here affects my metabolism and helps me burn calories throughout the day. Those are things that I’m looking for; companies where I can look at the ingredient list, pronounce the names and they are things that I take. I was taking green tea capsules in training before and now I’m drinking Celsius two times a day and getting the benefits of boosting my metabolism.
On top of all of this, you also started a CBD company.
REAP CBD is a company we decided to start up because I use CBD during training camp. It's more of a newer product but it's something that has kind of taken off and it's gained a lot of traction. I thought it was a good idea to source it and get the purest form that I could. What better way to do that than to have control over where it's coming from and whose processing it? We decided to take that leap of faith and start REAP. It's a company and product I can trust. We're still in the beginning phases but we have so many ideas and so much stuff coming out and I'm excited to share this with the world as well.
How long have you been using CBD?
I've been using it regularly for probably the last four years. From the topicals and tinctures, I try to double up on sparring days to get the brain health in. What I do for a living isn't good for your brain. I always had bumps and bruises and I noticed that different products with arnica and topical cbd with menthol were doing really good for my joints and I felt like I recovered quicker. Even with muscle strains, I was recovering quicker when I used these products. I wanted to source the purest, organic forms of this stuff and create the best product I can make. Not that I wanted to be greedy, but I wanted these products for me and for training camp, but they are such good products, everyone can benefit from them.
What has it meant to you to be able to give back with your foundation at a time where a lot of people are going through difficult times?
It’s put things into perspective to be in a place to give back. People are scrambling and trying to regain their footing. I’m just thankful to have the foundation up and going with funds already generated from other goals we had. To provide nurses and other frontline workers meals at the beginning of the pandemic was a big deal to me. It’s also everything else we’re doing in the community. I’m looking forward to what we have going now with the Boys and Girls Club. Covid is affecting everyone, not only the parents but the kids themselves with learning from home and taking classes from in front of a computer screen –it’s tough times.
We had an opportunity to team up with the Boys and Girls Club and their Project Learn initiative to get tutors to these kids’ homes, to the Boys and Girls Club locations, and transportation to get the kids to the centers and back home because a lot of them are coming from single-parent households where that parent can’t take off of work, to pick them up and because of that, these kids are stuck at home. I think it’s very important that these kids have a place to go to be around positivity, other peers, positive role models and that’s very important. When we heard the goal of the Project Learn initiative, we knew it was the right thing to partner with them.
What's next for Dustin Poirier?
In terms of business, I've always been interested in real estate and I have a couple of properties. I think that's something that I'm going to pursue further as my career winds down in the next five years. I'm reading a lot about real estate and I'm picking the brains of people who are already in the game. Besides that, I have plans for a few more products under the Poirier's Louisiana Style line. I want to do some dry rubs and barbecue sauces. I have a lot of ideas in my head that I would love to make come to fruition. Other than that, I'm just staying busy with being a father, husband, running the foundation, training other fighters and getting myself prepared for whatever's next.
"Sauce" - Google News
February 08, 2021 at 11:30PM
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Dustin Poirier Is Creating A Legacy Outside UFC's Octagon With CBD And Hot Sauce Businesses - Forbes
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