Modestas Bukauskas admitted he let fear and nervousness take over in his first stint with the UFC.
The Lithuanian-British MMA fighter first joined the company in 2020, when he enjoyed a winning debut against Andreas Michailidis in an impressive showing that also saw the 'Baltic Gladiator' cash in a £50,000 Performance of the Night Bonus.
But three straight defeats followed, before the 29-year-old found himself released from the UFC in October 2021. A return to London-based organisation Cage Warriors saw Bukauskas claim its light-heavyweight championship and victories in two fights saw him return to the UFC earlier this year in a bid to prove himself.
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Bukauskas (15-5) has since won four fights on the trot and during an exclusive interview with Daily Star Sport, the Buckinghamshire-based fighter spelled out the differences between his first run in the UFC compared to now. "It's like a night and day difference, if I'm going by the moniker the Baltic Gladiator, I have to act accordingly and I felt in my first run I did not," he admitted.
"I let fear and nervousness take over and I didn't let myself go out and perform the way I wanted to and the way I should have." Ahead of his third fight this year where he takes on Vitor Petrino at UFC Fight Night 231 on Saturday (November 4), he insisted how important it is to embrace that fear and the feeling of nervousness before a fight or even before an appearance on Take Me Out.
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"The times in my life where I've managed to shine like even in events like Take Me Out, is just say 'F*** it' like what is there to lose, I'm going out there to embrace it and enter action with boldness. You've got to have a bit of a dark side, I'm always going to be genuine, kind and loving to people I care about but aside from that, you've got to be a bit ruthless."
MMA in the UK is at an all-time popularity thanks to Birmingham-based Leon Edwards who is the reigning UFC welterweight champion while Manchester's Tom Aspinall is fighting Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295 next Saturday (November 12).
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Bukauskas said the potential for a stadium show in the UK in the next year or two is there thanks to the continuing success of UK fighters. "There's potential for it, with big wins for me and Aspinall and throw a load of good UK guys it could definitely be possible and especially with a big title fight with maybe Leon [Edwards] defending his belt, there's a lot of intriguing things going on, the future is bright."
Modestas Bukauskas takes on Vitor Petrino at UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Lewis on November 4 live on TNT Sports.
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