Dustin Poirier admits he lifted an overweight friend to make weight in Mississippi

Dustin Poirier has admitted that he once helped an overweight friend cheat the scale at a weigh-in in Mississippi. The former interim UFC lightweight champion, now retired, told the story on the Deep Waters podcast. Sherdog first reported his comments in a story dated October 6.

What he said

Poirier said the friend was naked behind a towel and still over the limit. He was behind the towel with him, while, in his words, "Everybody was in front." By his own account, he then lifted the fighter slightly so the scale showed a legal weight. In his words, as quoted by Sherdog via Yahoo Sports:

I was behind the towel with him. Everybody was in front. I grabbed a handful of hairy man*ss cheeks and I lifted him up a little bit, got him on weight.

He didn't name the fighter, the event or the year, or say whether it was a pro or amateur bout. Sherdog's headline calls the man a teammate, but in the quoted remarks Poirier calls him "one of my buddies". We found no other account of the weigh-in.

We found no record of anyone being charged, fined or sanctioned. As of Tuesday, we also found no statement from the UFC or the Mississippi Athletic Commission, and neither Sherdog nor Yahoo reported one. Deep Waters is the UFC's weekly show on Paramount+, where Din Thomas hosts Poirier, Jorge Masvidal and Chris Weidman.

The towel problem

Towel weigh-ins have been questioned before. At UFC 210 in Buffalo in April 2017, Daniel Cormier weighed 206.2 pounds for a 205-pound title fight. About two minutes later he weighed in again holding a towel around himself and made 205. CBS Sports said that by pulling up on the towel he likely shifted enough weight to affect the scale.

Cormier rejected the suggestion that he'd cheated, telling reporters, "That's your belief, not mine." He kept the fight and submitted Anthony Johnson. The New York State Athletic Commission then changed its rules, according to Sherdog. The amended rule said a fighter on the scale "shall not make physical contact with any person or object other than the scale."

Poirier has raised the subject himself this year. After the UFC 328 weigh-ins in May, he questioned on The Ariel Helwani Show whether Khamzat Chimaev had really made 185 pounds. He said the hang scale "didn't even have time to balance," Lowkick MMA reported.

We think this points to a gap in procedure rather than a scandal about one fighter. In Poirier's telling, nobody in front of the towel could see what he was doing. A no-contact rule like New York's only works if an official can actually see the scale while the towel is up.

Where Poirier stands

Poirier, from Lafayette, Louisiana, finished his career 30-10 with one no contest, according to Wikipedia. He won the interim title by beating Max Holloway at UFC 236 in April 2019, but lost all three of his undisputed title fights. He retired after losing a unanimous decision to Holloway at UFC 318 in New Orleans on July 19, 2025.

Sherdog notes that he has since said he misses fighting and hasn't fully ruled out a return. No hearing, inquiry or fight is scheduled. He could be asked about the story on the next Deep Waters, due Monday, October 12.