Dustin Poirier’s Father’s Day arrest at the airport cost him more than his reputation. It cost him real money, too. The retired UFC fighter says Bud Light cut ties with him the moment video of the incident started spreading online.
Poirier opened up about the fallout during a Tuesday interview with Ariel Helwani. He confirmed that Bud Light ended his sponsorship deal almost immediately after his June 21 arrest for public drunkenness at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The arrest went viral for a reason beyond just the drinking. Body cam footage showed Poirier using a racial slur at the responding officer and daring him to fight.
“I’ll fight you right now. I’ll go with you right now. Let’s go,” Poirier said, shedding his backpack as he spoke. “It’s gon’ be bad. It’s gon’ be bad my n—-.”
Bud Light had two problems on its hands here, not just one. The footage itself was bad enough. But Bud Light sells alcohol for a living — and that makes them especially sensitive to anything involving drunk behavior from someone wearing their logo.
Poirier estimates the lost deal will run him “a few hundred thousand dollars.”
“They terminated my contract immediately. It’s all good, man. I don’t need that f—— poison in my life,” Poirier told Helwani. “It sucks that my family is missing out on the money I had left on the deal with them, which was a few hundred thousand dollars, but also if I’m representing something I’m not gonna be taking part in, promoting stuff, it is what it is.”
Quiet Edits, Then Silence
Bud Light didn’t make a big announcement about any of this. Instead, they quietly went back and re-edited a commercial Poirier had shot with UFC announcer Bruce Buffer — this happened right after the arrest became public. It took until this week for anyone to actually confirm the partnership was dead.
That’s often how these things go. Brands don’t want to draw more attention to a bad situation, so they just fix things behind the scenes and hope nobody asks too many questions.
Poirier’s career in the UFC has already wound down anyway. His final fight came against Max Holloway at UFC 318 on July 19, 2025, fittingly held in his home state of Louisiana. He lost that one, closing out his career with a record of 30 wins and 10 losses.
What Actually Happened at the Airport
Atlanta police were called to Delta Gate D36 around 4:50 p.m. on June 21 after reports came in about an intoxicated passenger who’d been denied boarding on Delta Flight 1295. Officers arrested Poirier and booked him at Clayton County Jail, charging him with public intoxication.
Following the arrest, Poirier called it a wake-up call. He’s said he plans on quitting drinking altogether going forward.