Modestas Bukauskas sat up, his guttural yell still perhaps echoing in one of the back hallways at the UFC Apex.
His nose was bloody and dripping on his thigh as he extended his left leg. But even with his busted nose, that was the least of his worries.
Referee Herb Dean looked down as a mask-clad doctor crouched over to examine. A splint was slapped on his left knee as Bukauskas was helped out of the cage by medical professionals before the official decision.
The fight was over, as was his UFC stint. Devastation set in. But Bukauskas refused to let that chapter be the last.
“I think I was always determined to not let the story end there,” Bukauskas recently told MMA Junkie. “Imagine you are reading a book, the book about Modestas. We’re talking about his MMA career and stuff like this, and it’s like, ‘Oh, he got to the UFC and that’s it.’ That’d be a pretty sh*t book to be honest with you.”
There were dark times, uncertainty, and a grueling recovery – a whole build-up just to be able to start over from scratch.
It’s hard to make it to the UFC, never mind do it twice. Following surgery and rehab, Bukauskas returned to action 14 months after his initial injury.
“When I got cut, I still went through a very, very dark time,” Bukauskas said. “But I just use that as motivation because a lot of people wrote me off. It’s funny because people say not to look at the haters and this and that. But I’ve got to thank them because that’s what gave me the fuel to want to come back and prove everyone wrong.”
Fueled by the haters, Bukauskas won a unanimous decision over Bellator alum Lee Chadwick before he clinched Cage Warriors gold with a unanimous decision over Chuck Campbell.
As was the case when he held the promotion’s title in 2019, a UFC call followed the championship gold.
Bukauskas received the call for a short-notice fight vs. Tyson Pedro, which he gladly accepted. He won his next fight vs. Zac Pauga before a loss to Vitor Petrino. But back-to-back finish victories over Macin Prachnio and Raffael Cerqueira followed.
Bukauskas credits mental evolution for his 4-1 record in his second UFC stint after a 1-3 record the first time around.
“I don’t think I was mentally ready the first time I was in the UFC,” Bukauskas said. “I’ve fought some pretty tough competition, but maybe I wasn’t quite ready to take it on at that age as opposed to now. One thing I can definitely say, I’ve got a little more intense with the way that I approach fights. I realize this is what I’ve got to unlock to get the most out of myself. So I sort of come integrated with my warrior spirit a little bit more.”
The maturity and psychological strengthening Bukauskas traces back to the support of his father, who has long been his role model. But a new motivational figure also has emerged over the past 15 months.
A chance encounter at the UFC Performance Institute led Bukauskas to shoot his shot on Instagram – and he’s glad he did. One DM may have changed the trajectory of his career.
“One big thing that I’ve sort of implemented sort of down the line over the past year and a half is going down to Tom Aspinall’s gym,” Bukauskas said. “I saw there was a bunch of big guys going there. I dropped him a message. He was insanely welcoming and right away was like sure. He messaged my dad to come up here. We had an amazing bond right away between me and his team. He’s such a great guy and very welcoming.”
The mats of Aspinall BJJ are often covered by big bodies. From Aspinall to Ante Delija to Mick Parkin, it’s a rare opportunity for Bukauskas to get work in with so many behemoths.
“(Aspinall) Just tells me, every time I go and fight, ‘Just believe in yourself,” Bukauskas said. “Go out there and have some fun and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Go out there and fully embrace your full skillset. Go out there and just do it. Embrace the fear. Embrace the environment. If you just relax and let things go, you’re going to do well.’ When he told me this leading into my fights and stuff like that, it helped me with my mental stage into fights and just embracing it. I didn’t put so much pressure on myself to perform and perform well. Ultimately, it’s gotten me to just go out there and be more loose and see what’s in there in the cage at the right time.”
At UFC 315 on Saturday at Bell Centre in Montreal, Bukauskas (17-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) aims to make it three in a row when he takes on violent veteran Ion Cutelaba (19-10-1 MMA, 8-9-1 UFC) on the prelims.
Now that his book won’t end in a devastating knee injury, Bukauskas hopes the final chapter will be one with him departing the sport with a championship legacy.
“Ultimately, what is the goal in this game? It’s to become a champion,” Bukauskas said. “Do I feel like I have the skillset and what it takes to become a champion? Yes. We’ve got to take it step-by-step, bit-by-bit, keep working, keep improving. But ultimately, that’s the goal. I don’t want to just be a champion, I want to have a legacy. I want to be that guy who is able to defend his belt and really solidify himself as a true stable champion.”
“It’s clear that I still have a long way to go. However, after this fight and this win, my sights are set on the top 15. Achieving that ranking will bring me one step closer to my ultimate goal.”