“He hit me so hard”: Brendan Allen tells the training with Dustin Poirier when he was still a teenager

Brendan Allen has the chance to fight near the UFC 318 in New Orleans near home, and he probably owes Dustin Poirier.

The upcoming card on Saturday is based on Poirier's retirement battle in New Orleans when he speaks together with Max Holloway in the main event. As a colleague born from Louisiana, everyone was definitely confident that he would also get the chance to take part. He had his wish with a resentment against Marvin Vettori, and he is grateful for the opportunity.

Therefore, everyone has no problem giving Poirier his flowers, even if it hurts a little, considering that the former preliminary lightweight champion is teammates with his upcoming opponent.

“He did a lot for sport,” said Allen about Poirier when he spoke to MMA fights. “He did a lot for his community. He did a lot for fighting and many people. I think he got it back. He lives a great life from the fight and he built everything himself, fights through the fight. He has been nearby for a long time.

“I'm very happy for him and his family. I think [opposing] Team, so I can't say too much. “

Although they no longer train together, everyone definitely remembers the days when he only learned something about MMA and Poirier was one of the best prospects from Louisiana.

In fact, the experienced middleweight, especially a sparring meeting, in which he was thrown directly into the fire with Poirier as a partner. Although everyone was still a teenager at the time, he treated him like a specialist.

“I have already trained in another gym and he trained in another gym,” said Allen. “Dustin and my friend Kurt were the two largest guys all over the south at that time. So they wanted them to train together. I think Dustin was exactly around the point where he had a WEC fight or should be signed at that time.

“I saved and tried to see them saved because they had a damn sparring session. Then it was live -gos who started the guard against the wall, and man, they said he hit me as hard. It was like a live hole, but you started in the guard as much as F*ck man.

Allen says that this type of training sessions for fighters who came up in those days were normal when sparring basically battles.

Nowadays, athletes have become more intelligent about training for long -term health, but everyone admits that he learned a lot from Poirier and other fighters during this time because he did not give a passport just because he was a teenager.

“You learn very quickly,” said Allen. “That was my whole upbringing at the beginning and only tried with people 25, 26, 27 [years old] And I'm 14, 15, 16 years old. It is much different than today, I can tell you that. It is much different. “

From these early sparring meetings to the parts of a squad square with him in the UFC, everyone appreciates everything Poirier did for sport, and he only wishes him the best in retirement.

“At the end of the day I am very happy for him and his family,” said Allen. “He deserves everything he has. So many fighters would kill to have it, and he did it. No matter what happens, the man has made a great life for himself by pushing people in the face. You can do nothing more than that.”