Dustin Poirier

Dustin Glenn Poirier (born January 19, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist, currently competing as a lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of January 3, 2016 Poirier is #10 in the official UFC lightweight rankings. Poirier is one of the subjects of the documentary Fightville by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker, which examines the mixed martial arts scene in southern Louisiana.

Mixed martial arts career

Poirier turned professional in 2009, quickly compiled a record of 7-0, competing mostly in regional promotions across his native Louisiana and the Southern United States.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Poirier lost a unanimous decision to Danny Castillo in his WEC debut on August 18, 2010 at WEC 50.

Poirier defeated Zach Micklewright via first round TKO on November 11, 2010 at WEC 52.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

Eddie Alvarez

Edward "Eddie" Alvarez is an American mixed martial artist that currently competes in the UFC. Alvarez is the two-time and former Bellator Lightweight Champion. He has also competed for the Japanese DREAM promotion, where he made his name in their inaugural Lightweight Grand Prix and also fought once for ProElite's EliteXC promotion. Alvarez is currently ranked the #1 lightweight in official UFC rankings, and the #5 lightweight in the world by Sherdog.

Background

Of Puerto Rican and Irish descent, Alvarez was born and raised in Kensington, Philadelphia, a rough neighborhood with a reputation for violent crimes and an abundance of street narcotics. Alvarez competed in wrestling at Northeast Catholic High School where he was a two-time National Prep All-American, and placed sixth in both 2000 and 2001 at the National Prep School Wrestling Championships in the 145 lb weight class. After high school, Alvarez immediately pursued a professional career in MMA with his first fight coming after only eight months of formal training.

Conor McGregor

Conor Anthony McGregor (born 14 July 1988) is an Irish mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight and lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the current UFC Featherweight Champion and the former Cage Warriors featherweight and lightweight champion. As of 14 December 2015, he is No. 3 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings and ranked as the No. 1 featherweight and No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog. He is currently on a 15-fight win streak, 14 of which have not made it past the second round.

Early life

McGregor was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was raised in the South Dublin suburb of Crumlin and attended a Gaelscoil and Gaelcholáiste at both primary and at secondary level in Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght where he also developed his passion for sport playing association football. In his youth, he played football for Lourdes Celtic Football Club and supported Manchester United in the English Premier League.

In 2006, McGregor moved with his family to Lucan in west Dublin, attending Gaelcholáiste Coláiste Cois Life. Following that, he commenced a plumbing apprenticeship. While in Lucan, he began sparring with future Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Tom Egan who taught McGregor how to grapple and ignited his passion for mixed martial arts. McGregor's walking weight is around 170 lbs.

Poirier

Poirier is a French surname, meaning pear tree (cf. poire).

Those bearing this surname include:

Joe Rogan

Joseph James "Joe" Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American podcaster, sports commentator, and stand up comedian. Rogan is the host of his own podcast titled The Joe Rogan Experience, a weekly talk show where he converses with people from various backgrounds. Also a comedian, he began performing stand up comedy in 1989 and still performs regular tours to this day. Rogan has worked for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) since 1997, and is now a color commentator for the promotion. In addition, Rogan has had roles on the television sitcoms Hardball and NewsRadio and was the host of reality shows Fear Factor and Joe Rogan Questions Everything.

Early life

Rogan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He was raised in Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts until age seven, followed by San Francisco, California until age 11, and then Gainesville, Florida. He is of one quarter Irish and three quarters Italian descent. Rogan's father, a police officer in Newark, has not been in contact with him since Rogan was six years old. He briefly attended the University of Massachusetts Boston.