UFC star Dustin Poirier is the type of guy that you definitely want to have in your corner.

Not only is the Lafayette native the type of guy you want to have in your corner, but he's also a man of his word. According to a recent story told by Daniel Cormier, Poirier skipped out on a major opportunity with UFC to make good on a promise he made to a local Lafayette business owner.

Back in 2018, local restaurateur Tim Metcalf (Dean-O's, Prejean's) faced off against KLFY TV personality Bob Moore in a mixed martial arts charity match at Cypress Bayou Casino.

Metcalf lost 40 pounds in preparation for the bout and ultimately walked away from the exhibition match with the victory. Both men scored an even bigger win for Susan G. Komen by raising over $3,000 for their local chapter.

Dustin Poirier, a long-time close friend of the Metcalfs, was in attendance that night to support Tim during his fight—but only recently did we find out about a major opportunity that he passed up to be there for his friend.

UFC 276 is taking place this weekend (July 2) in Las Vegas and Dustin Poirier was a guest on the Live Weigh-in show which also featured another Lafayette native (also from the north side) and UFC champion Daniel Cormier.

Poirier was a natural at the desk and during the show, Daniel Cormier actually revealed that Poirier actually had a career opportunity to flex his commentating skills with the UFC many years ago.

In the clip below you'll hear Cormier describe Poirier as a "television guy" before he let the viewing audience in on a little-known secret that the UFC champ got an offer to do Dana White's Contender Series—a show that gives young fighters the chance to possibly compete in the UFC–as a commentator back in 2018.

Dustin passed on the gig because he wanted to corner Tim Metcalf for his charity match back home in Acadiana, so he was replaced by Paul Felder, another UFC competitor who ended up making so much money from commentating that he has since retired from fighting.

Poirier flashed his signature sheepish smile while Cormier told the story about his missed opportunity before exclaiming to Cormier "and Tim won the fight!"

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UFC, YouTube
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Of course, we know Dustin went on to make his mark on the UFC in a different way, but after seeing how natural he was behind that desk, I would be surprised if he doesn't get another shot at commentating a lot sooner than later.

Oh, and I wasn't the only one who noticed how good Poirier was on television.

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YouTube, UFC
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I spoke with Metcalf who revealed that he didn't even know about Poirier passing up on the major opportunity until he heard Dustin bring it up on the Joe Rogan podcast about a year ago.

Tim Metcalf is about as tough of a man as they come, but when he heard what his friend did for him, he was brought to tears.

Last night in Vegas, after Cormier told the story to the world on the weigh-in show, Poirier told Metcalf that if he could go back and do it all over again, he would still choose to be in his corner over the UFC gig–including the hundreds of thousands of dollars that would be in his bank account instead of Felder's.

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While Metcalf knows he will never be asked to repay Dustin for what he sacrificed to be there back in 2018, he did tell me that the UFC star will never pay for a pizza from Dean-O's—as he has been given what Tim described as a "lifetime supply."

Check out Dustin coaching up Metcalf to a victory at WFC 86 below and let this story serve as a reminder that sometimes in life, we find friendship so good, that it's more valuable than money—and pizza.

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