Michael Chiesa explains how Dustin Poirier helped him retire when sharing secret he kept to himself

Michael Chiesa knew that it was the best time to step away this past weekend.

Following Saturday night’s motion, the likes of Demetrious Johnson have shared their thoughts on Israel Adesanya’s future after he suffered his fourth consecutive loss.

It seems clear that ‘The Last Stylebender’ continues to be motivated to compete and proceed testing himself whatever the results.

For Chiesa, who retired at UFC Seattle, he knew that stepping away was the best call due to a sense he had that he shared with a fellow veteran.

Who should Israel Adesanya fight next?

‘The Last Stylebender’ refused to retire after suffering his fourth straight loss at UFC Seattle.

Michael Chiesa knew he should retire after Dustin Poirier shared similar feelings on his changing mindset

Michael Chiesa’s retirement bothered his former rival Kevin Lee due to how respectfully it was handled by the UFC in a rare perfect send-off for a fighter.

Unlike many others, he went out on a four-fight win streak, but recently revealed that his only fight in 2025 saw him experience something recent that he kept secret until now.

“It was within the Court McGee fight,” Chiesa told Uncrowned. “It was the primary time in my life that I held myself back from pulling the trigger and going hard. And it was out of fear. I used to be frightened of getting hurt and losing. That was the primary time I’d ever felt like that in a fight, and it held me back from taking probabilities that I’d have taken after I was younger.”

The next month, Dustin Poirier made similar comments following his loss to Max Holloway which ended his profession, which then impacted Chiesa.

“I used to be working with Dustin when he said that and I immediately thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s exactly how I felt,’” Chiesa said. “It was that feeling like, as a substitute of pushing for it and going for the finish and attempting to put a stamp on the fight, I held myself back for the primary time in my life. And that appeared like an indication that, OK, the top is here.”

What’s your favorite moment of Michael Chiesa’s profession?

‘The Maverick’ retired after his fight with Niko Price at UFC Seattle.

Chiesa may not have zero regrets about his profession but many have argued that that is the very best time for him to walk away because he won’t get a greater ending to his run than that.

A primary round submission win over Niko Price in front of his home fans meant that ‘Maverick’ went out while the admiration for him was arguably at its peak.

He can have been on a formidable run but only he knew that something felt different contained in the Octagon.