UFC star Dustin Poirier says his crushing defeat to Conor McGregor changed his mentality and helped him become a better fighter.
Poirier returned to the win column following his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov by beating Dan Hooker in a 'Fight of the Year' contender last weekend.
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He outpointed the New Zealand fighter in an epic five round war at UFC Vegas 4.
'The Diamond' is 5-1 in his last six fights and he's credited his career turnaround to his first round loss to McGregor back in September 2014.
"It definitely started happening after the Conor McGregor loss," Poirier said about his evolution as a fighter.
"That was the start of it. It's been a long process, being a father, losing again, winning some and losing again, and winning another one.
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"It's just a long evolution of stop caring so much. You just stop caring about the noise and stuff that doesn't matter."
The former UFC interim lightweight champion added: "A lot of times in my younger career, I felt like it was life or death. Every comment on Instagram and Twitter, every journalist who said something, I felt like everybody was against me. I felt like if I lost I would be written off, it's the end of my career. I'm a bum if I lose this fight.
"And then you lose a few times and you're like, 'Oh sh*t, I can still put this back together. Oh man, I'm still providing for my family. I'm still loving what I do.'
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"It's like you've been bent but not broken a lot of times and I feel like it made me stronger and it made me the man I am today. I'm happy. I'm genuinely happy."
McGregor reacted to Poirier's assessment with a simple message on social media: "Respect," he wrote on Twitter.
Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Dustin Poirier, UFC News, Dan Hooker, Fight News, UFC, MMA
