UFC 260: Modestas Bukauskas prepared for hell

FIGHTSTARS: Modestas Bukauskas plans to finish Michal Oleksiejczuk in “spectacular fashion” at UFC 260

March 25, 2021

Modestas Bukauskas was eagerly anticipating his next fight after coming up short last time out.

Back on Fight Island in October, Bukauskas suffered a first-round TKO loss to Jimmy Crute. In just his second UFC fight, he fought a very tough and dangerous Crute who is now in the rankings and could be in the top-10 after his next fight. Although the loss was disappointing for Bukauskas, he says it helped him grow as he hired a sports psychologist and started to focus more on the strategy for his fights.

“It is the same with Adesanya, I was the one who took a risk and it didn’t pay off. I’m taking the hard and daring way to be great and unfortunately in that fight, it didn’t go the way I wanted. I also learned a hell of a lot from the fight,” Bukauskas said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “The main things I learned about the fight weren’t technical, like I know have the skill set to win that fight. But, it was more underlying things, like I got myself a sports psychologist which is about bringing the best out of me.

“That was one of the main things and then having a strategy and a game plan,” Bukauskas continued. “Every fighter has tendencies. But, I would go into the fight to fight and Jimmy Crute told me he was working on a couple of moves a million times over just for me. It is also about being more aggressive and an attacking fighter as I have been a defensive fighter in my career.”

After the loss, Modestas Bukauskas was blowing up his manager’s phone trying to get a fight. The goal was to fight in January of February. He ended up getting offered Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC 260 and it was an immediate yes.

Bukauskas is well aware that Oleksiejczuk has legit one-punch KO power. But, the former Cage Warriors champion believes he can use his reach to frustrate the Pole. Once he does that, he believes the finish will come and it will be one for the highlight-reel.

“I have supreme confidence in myself. I’ve learned to use my reach a whole lot better. Just bringing back the old me that is aggressive and flamboyant like I want to show out in this fight. I’m looking for the finish, I’m not going to Vegas for a decision,” Bukauskas said. “It is in my goal and in my view that I will finish this guy. I do feel like I will get the knockout. I have the skill and I just need to prove it. I’m going to get my hand raised and do it in spectacular fashion.”

If Bukauskas does get his hand raised at UFC 260, his hope is to fight often in 2021 and be in the rankings by the end of the year. For after this fight, however, he says he doesn’t care who is next. He knows he will have to beat everyone eventually.

“It doesn’t matter. I have to pick them off one by one. If I get a big win here, I would like a top-15 guy. But, it doesn’t matter, whoever they give me is who I will fight,” Bukauskas concluded.