Chris Daukaus is in a must-win situation at UFC 282 this weekend (Sat., Dec. 10, 2022).
The No. 11-ranked Heavyweight contender found himself on the wrong end of two tough knockout losses in pivotal match ups his last two times out. First finished by Derrick Lewis in the first round of his UFC main event debut, Daukaus then went on to fall short against Curtis Blaydes.
With his five-fight win streak snapped and his first losing skid obtained, Daukaus was down in the dumps, to say the least.
“After you lose, the first month and a half … I wanted to kill myself because it f—king sucks,” Daukaus said at UFC 282 media day. “Everyone’s telling me how bad I suck and everyone’s just s—ting on you because that’s what people do. You’re only as good as your last fight and my last two fights have sucked so yeah, you just have to get through that. It sucks, but you have to get through that and I’ve been working on that since my last one and I’m here to change that.”
Despite the skid, Daukaus is remaining in the mix of top 15 contenders, facing Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 282.
Daukaus, 33, worked as a police officer prior to his skid, but gave up his position to go full-time as an MMA fighter. The timing was undeniably poor when it comes to income. Daukaus, however, doesn’t regret his decision.
“[The mindset is] like, dude, you totally f—ked up. You probably should have stayed a cop,” Daukaus joked regarding quitting his police officer job. “But no, this is what I wanted, this is really what I’ve been striving for. It’s what I want. I would rather do this, get my ass kicked, and question whether or not I have a job than to go back to the police department.
“I love the police department — I don’t love the police department … I love the people I worked with,” he clarified. “The whole bureaucracy and all that, that’s a whole different story. But no, I really enjoyed the people I worked with, but this is much better. I get to spend time with my family, I get to spend time with my kids. This is living the dream for me. I get paid to get in fistfights. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 282 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard (on ESPN2/ESPN+) at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 282: “Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.