‘I Open at the Close’ — Dustin Poirier and His Golden Snitch (UFC 299 Blog)
One of the key roles in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is played by a magic snitch — a flying, walnut-sized golden sphere, with a mystical engraving “I open at the close”. The meaning of the phrase is revealed towards the end of the story: prior to facing certain death, Harry whispers to the snitch that he’s prepared to die. At this moment, the tiny ball opens up, revealing the Resurrection Stone that appears to have been hidden inside all along. Despite its name, the stone doesn’t literally bring one back to life, however, it does give Harry the strength to walk his path till the very end, and eventualy defeat Death itself.
You may be asking: what the hell does any of this have to do with a blog about an MMA fighter? Well, let me explain.
In every athlete’s life there comes a moment when they need to answer a question: are you coming or going? In other words - what is the trajectory of your career development at this particular moment. For example, just a couple of weeks ago we posed that same question to Alex Volkanovski. And got our answer — his loss to a young contender in Ilia Topuria indicated that, perhaps, the time has passed the great champion by. As sad as this seems, the concept isn’t exactly unexpected — age is an opponent that no one has ever been able to defeat.
However, while the outcome of the battle with Father Time is inevitable, the fight itself can be avoided. In fact, one could argue that the most important skill in MMA is not striking, grappling, or the combination of the two — it’s knowing exactly when to finish your career. Take Khabib Nurmagomedov or Georges Saint-Pierre for example — one of the main reasons why they are considered the so-called G.O.A.T.-s can be atributed to them leving the sport before physical decline could tarnish their legacy.
Unfortunately for Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier, this option was never really on the table. Despite a Hall-of-Fame-worthy resume, Dustin — unlike Khabib or GSP — never managed to become the undisputed champion in the UFC. And while this doesn’t in any way affect the way that I (and thousands of others) view him, it clearly is important to Poirier himself. The ever-present force at the top of the lightweight division, Dustin kept chasing the elusive 12-pound gold belt, running through veterans and young contenders one after another… until everything changed — last August an old foe, Justin Gaethje, caught Poirier with a vicious head kick, putting the Louisiana native in a complicated position.
One can only imagine how big of a hit (no pun intended) this was for the 35-year-old athlete. First of all, at this age, a head-kick knockout is nothing to be taken lightly. Don’t believe me? Ask Kamaru Usman or the above-mentioned Alex Volkanovski. Second of all, the Lightweight division is notorious (pun intended) for being an absolute shark tank, full of young and hungry contenders. Trying to pave your way back to the title can take a long time… And even if you do make it there, the odds aren’t exactly in your favor: it’s no secret that, statistically speaking, winning a title at 155 pounds after 35 is next to impossible. This is when one may begin to question: with 30 pro-MMA fights behind his shoulders, and a little 8-year-old ‘Sweet P’ Parker waiting at home, do I really have the motivation to go through another training camp, train like a maniac twice a day, while dieting and cutting weight?
But you, I, and even Sweet P, know very well that her dad is built different. That he’s not afraid of monsters under the bed, head-kick knockouts, or gruelling practices twice a day. And, as it turns out, neither is he afraid of 28-year-old former members of the French Special Forces, since this is exactly who Benoit Saint Denis — Poirier’s next opponent — is.
In this unpredictable, heartless sport, the only thing that remains unchanged is the law of the jungle: the young eat the old, and the contenders get tested by putting them against veterans. At some point, every fighter finds themselves at this unenviable stage. Even the aforementioned Gaethje had to go through a war with an insanely dangerous Rafael Fiziev to retain his spot at the top of the mountain. Now, having emerged as a victor, Justin is not only the BMF champ but also one of the main candidates for the next title shot. So, if Gaethje had his happy ending, why can’t Poirier have one?
Objectively — he can. One of the main stipulations behind Poirier taking the fight with Benoit Saint Denis was the match being scheduled for five 5-minute rounds. Unlike real life, in this battle the time is on Dustin’s side — Poirier is an experienced fighter who only improves as the fight progresses: he can better see the opponent’s punches, can better defend himself, can better time his own counters. And it’s no secret that none of Benoit Saint Denis’ past opponents come even close to El Diamante’s level. In fact, as the Frenchman was making his UFC debut back in 2021, Poirier was preparing for his 26th bout in the organization. So we shouldn’t be that surprised if on Saturday the Louisianan veteran stubbornly shakes his head, and gives his ‘distant relative’ an important career lesson.
But what if it so happens that Dustin Poirier has already given this lesson to another young contender? Of course, I’m talking about his 2020 fight-of-the-year contender bout with Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker. What if Poirier already used up his Resurrection Stone 4 years ago? Even ‘The Diamond’ himself knows that every time he steps foot inside that octagon, he leaves a part of himself there… And this part he will never get back.
No, Parker’s dad isn’t afraid of monsters under the bed, head-kick knockouts, or gruelling training sessions. The only thing he is afraid of is that one day the person standing across from him in the octagon will have more pieces left to leave behind.
On March 9th, Dustin Poirier will have to answer a question that sooner or later is asked of every proferssional athlete. I don’t know if the fighter from Louisiana likes stories about a sorcerer boy from England… But I hope that, if needed, his golden snitch will always open at the close.
