Dustin Poirier opens up about his depression following his arrest at the airport. “When it comes back, it hits really hard.”

Dustin Poirier has spoken openly for the first time about the issues that led to the high-profile incident at the Atlanta airport. The former UFC star admitted that he has been struggling with bouts of depression for years, and the events of that day were the result of an exceptionally difficult time in his life.

The retired UFC fighter certainly had a different vision of how he would spend Father’s Day weekend. A video has surfaced in the media showing Poirier threatening a police officer after he was removed from a plane for causing trouble for the flight crew. “The Diamond” was charged with being in a public place while under the influence of alcohol. This is a misdemeanor for which he faces up to one year in prison and/or a fine.

Poirier: It’s back with a vengeance

After the whole incident, many fans began to worry about the well-being of the former UFC title contender. In an interview on the show “Diary of a CEO,” Poirier explained that he had been thinking about his father—who has been struggling with alcoholism for years—since that morning.

As the athlete revealed, despite attempts to help him, his father ended up back on the streets. It was these events that caused him to struggle with depression once again.

“I’ve had bouts with depression throughout my career. When it hits me, it hits me hard, and that day it hit me hard, man. It just feels like everything has its own gravity and it’s gonna pull me towards the negative no matter what it is. It’s like a cloud in my head that I just can’t get out from under. It’s hard to explain it to you unless you’ve been through it. That’s what I tell my wife because she’s always so happy, which is great, but when I feel like that, and it doesn’t happen often, but man, when it hits me it’s bad.”

Even before his arrest, Poirier admitted that after his professional career ended, he had a hard time finding a new purpose. Despite his charity work, running his own sauce brand, and serving as an analyst during UFC events broadcast by Paramount, the former fighter made no secret of the fact that life after his career hasn’t been easy for him. After the details of the situation came to light, many people in the MMA community publicly expressed their support for him.