Poirier Hits Back as Buckley-Strickland Feud Explodes

Dustin Poirier Fires Back As Joaquin Buckley's Confrontation With Sean Strickland Escalates

A three-way feud involving a retired legend, a welterweight contender, and a former middleweight champion has erupted in the UFC.

Dustin Poirier has responded to Joaquin Buckley after Buckley publicly challenged him over a racial slur used during Poirier's arrest.

The exchange has drawn in Sean Strickland, who was already in a separate confrontation with Buckley.

Buckley, 32, first took aim at Poirier in a video posted to his Instagram.

In the video, Buckley questioned the authenticity of Poirier's explanation for his behavior during the June 2026 airport incident.

Poirier was arrested at Atlanta International Airport for public intoxication.

Footage of the arrest went viral, showing Poirier challenging an officer and using a racial slur.

Poirier later apologized publicly and thanked the officers for their handling of the situation.

He is scheduled to appear in court in the coming months and, if convicted, faces up to a year in prison.

Buckley used Poirier's recent praise of heavyweight prospect Josh Hokit on the Deep Waters podcast as the opening to revisit the controversy.

Poirier had described Hokit's promotional work as a "crushing job."

Buckley took issue with that endorsement.

"It all makes sense to me now," Buckley said in his video response.

"All that crying you was doing in them interviews, talking about, 'Man, I just need a distraction. If I don't have a good distraction, if I don't have something to focus on, I get into chaos.'"

"I start to do sh*t, certain stuff, and I get this dark side. All that shit was bullsh*t. All of it was."

Buckley also accused Poirier of appropriating "aspects of black culture in his public persona, without standing by the community."

Poirier responded with a brief comment on Buckley's post.

"Tryna get some views? Shut up or k*ll me!" Poirier wrote.

The response acknowledged Buckley's challenge to an in-person confrontation.

Buckley then escalated the exchange with a reply that targeted Poirier's mental health struggles.

"Not that long ago that's what you wanted to do to yourself," Buckley wrote.

"Delete yourself. When I see you, let's talk about it. You take the first swing."

The reference was to Poirier's earlier public statements about being depressed and struggling with his mental health after retiring from the UFC.

Poirier retired after UFC 318 last year and has not fought since.

Buckley has not shied away from confrontation in the past.

'New Mansa' has a long list of rivals and enemies in the UFC, some in his own weight class and others who are not.

He is currently scheduled for one more fight, after which he has said he will retire to fulfill a promise to his grandmother.

Buckley's last fight was a loss to Mike Malott at UFC Edmonton.

The feud with Poirier runs alongside a separate confrontation Buckley has with Sean Strickland.

Strickland, the former UFC middleweight champion, has not yet publicly responded to Buckley's involvement with Poirier.

The situation remains fluid, with all three fighters active on social media.

Poirier has not commented further on Buckley's latest remarks about his mental health.

Buckley has continued to post about the exchange, keeping the feud in the public eye.

The UFC has not issued any statement regarding the escalating tensions between the fighters.

No fight between any of the three has been announced or is known to be in discussion.

Poirier, a former interim lightweight champion and future Hall of Famer, has not indicated any plans to return to the Octagon.

Buckley, meanwhile, has one fight remaining on his UFC contract before his planned retirement.

The racial slur used by Poirier during his arrest remains a central point of Buckley's criticism.

Buckley said in his video: "Dustin Poirier don't f— with us."

"Yeah, he'd like to be one of us. He likes it when he pulls up his little jeans and s— when he fights, he likes to scuff his little nose when he's doing s—."

"Wants to say, 'Yeah, I'm from Lafayette, I'm from Lafayette, I went to school with all the black folks.' Corny-a** m———–."

"I'm going to tell you all right now, for real, it can be like that, any person that got a problem with what I'm saying, especially you Dustin Poirier, if you really want to roll up and do something about it, I promise you this: In your words, it's gonna be bad for you, my n—-."

"Pull up and do something."

Poirier's response — "Shut up or kill me" — was seen by many as a refusal to back down.

Buckley then referenced Poirier's own past statements about suicidal thoughts.

Poirier had spoken openly about his mental health struggles after retiring.

Buckley's use of those statements in the exchange has drawn criticism from some fans and analysts.

Others have defended Buckley's right to confront Poirier over the use of a racial slur.