From Fighter to Elite Coach: Phil Daru's Story of Purpose And Training Dustin Poirier & Amanda Nunes

About this episode

Phil Daru shares his journey from fighter to elite coach, discussing discipline, purpose, and overcoming adversity.

Phil Daru, world-class performance coach, former Mixed Martial Artist, and trainer to elite athletes like Dustin Poirier, Amanda Nunes, and Colby Covington, joins The Determined Society for a powerful conversation on discipline, faith, purpose, adversity, and what it really means to become unkillable in life. In this episode, Phil opens up about his early life in Broward County, training martial arts from a young age, playing Division I football, losing both parents within months, becoming a father, and being forced to pivot after a neurologist told him one more hit could change his future. He shares how that moment led him from fighting to coaching, and how routine, repetition, faith, and service became the foundation of his work with fighters, Olympians, Special Forces operators, CEOs, and high performers. This conversation is about more than training. It is about finding your purpose, staying prepared, and building the mind, body, and spirit to keep moving forward when life hits back. The Determined Society is hosted by Shawn French — a show for people who refuse to quit. Every episode goes beyond the highlight reel to explore the real stories behind resilience, reinvention…

People in this episode

Host: Shawn French

Guest: Phil Daru

Topics covered

• coaching
• adversity
• discipline
• purpose
• mindset
• high performance

Keywords

• performance coach
• mixed martial arts
• training
• resilience
• mindset
• purpose
• adversity

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Broward County

More episodes of The Determined Society with Shawn French | Mindset, Adversity & Growth

• Blaire White On Growing Up Broken, Going Viral, and Finding Herself · June 1, 2026 · 1h 9m
• From Losing Everything to Building Redcon1: The Inspiring Story of Aaron Singerman · May 25, 2026 · 1h 1m
• How Skip Bertman Built a Dynasty for LSU: Winning, Leadership, and Building Champions · May 18, 2026 · 1h 29m
• From Broke to Biohacked: Anthony & TereZa Lolli on Health, Wealth, and Rebuilding Everything · May 11, 2026 · 59 min
• Determination & Discipline | From Random Gigs to Pitbull Collabs · April 27, 2026 · 58 min
• Jana Kramer | How Adversity Builds Determination and Discipline · April 20, 2026 · 1h 22m