Where does Dustin Poirier train out of?
Dustin Poirier has been a mainstay of the UFC featherweight and lightweight divisions for more than a decade. The Lafayette, Louisiana native is one of the grittiest fighters and has worked his way up to becoming a lightweight great through constant reinvention and grind.
While Poirier's family has been supportive of him through the ups and downs of his MMA career, he achieved competitive success because of a strong team of coaches and training partners who guided him in the right direction.
Where does Dustin Poirier train at?
Dustin Poirier trains at the notorious American Top Team (ATT) gym. Founded by businessman and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu enthusiast Dan Lambert in 2001, when the sport of MMA was still in its nascent stages, the gym has grown to become one of the largest MMA academies not only in the USA but in the whole world.
ATT has been home to several UFC stalwarts such as Jorge Masvidal, Amanda Nunes, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Edson Barboza, and Glover Texeira over the years.
The gym is also home to the elite contenders of the current generation of fighters like Movsar Evolev, Mateusz Gamrot, and Bo Nickal, among others.
Poirier has also been training at ATT for the vast majority of his MMA career. According to reports, Poirier's fierce rival and former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor was refused an opportunity to train at ATT, since the gym had expected the rubber match to take place at some point.
Where is Dustin Poirier's gym?
American Top Team is headquartered in Coconut Creek, South Florida. However, the gym now has affiliate academies across the USA.
While laying the foundation of ATT, Dan Lambert had brought Marcus Silveira, Marcelo Silveira, and Ricardo Liborio, the former members of the Brazilian Top Team. But there is no formal association between ATT and BTT.
Although 'The Diamond' continues to live in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, he conducts his fight camps in Coconut Creek at ATT.
Dustin Poirier's transition to American Top Team
Dustin Poirier initially used to train at Gladiators Academy under retired MMA fighter Tim Credeur. He also received a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Credeur. However, the Lousiana lad moved to ATT in Florida after suffering a fourth-round submission loss against Chan Sung Jung at UFC on FUEL TV 3 in 2012.
While Poirier held his old gym in high regard, the loss against 'The Korean Zombie' prompted him to make some essential changes to his training. In an interview dating back to 2014, Dustin Poirier told MMA Junkie:
"That made me reevaluate some of the things I was doing, how I was training. I needed those sparring partners, is what it came down to. There’s always someone here who’s better than you in some area. Some are better than you in all areas. It’s a shark tank, and I needed that. I needed to be getting beat up every day because that’s how I learn and get better."While Dustin Poirier was expecting to find a variety of sparring partners, he certainly didn't expect to find a friend and mentor in ATT coach and former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown.
Already in his late 30s, Mike Brown was at the waning end of his career and had taken up coaching responsibilities when Dustin Poirier joined ATT. Brown has developed a strong bond with Poirier over the years and currently serves as his head coach. Meanwhile, young fighters like Poirier served as a source of motivation for Mike Brown to hit the mats every day at ATT.