UFC star Chris Daukaus has admitted that he "wanted to kill himself" after losing his second consecutive octagon bout earlier this year.
The heavyweight is ranked No.11 in the world, and was well on his way to the top of the division after winning five fights in a row, including his first four in the promotion. He even landed himself a big-money performance bonus for the latest win on that streak; a vicious first round knockout of Shamil Abdurakhimov.
However, he was brutally knocked out in the first round by Derrick Lewis last year during his first main event for the UFC, before losing again to Curtis Blaydes back in March. Now, two months after their initial fight date and nine months since his last defeat, Daukaus faces Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a tough clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
"After you lose, the first month and a half I wanted to kill myself because it f***ing sucks,” Daukaus told reporters at UFC 282 media day. “Everyone’s telling me how bad I suck and everyone’s just s****ing on you because that’s what they 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. I mean, 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.”
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The heavyweight is a former police officer in his hometown of Philadelphia, but quit the force so that he could take on MMA full-time and compete at the elite level. And despite losing a couple of difficult fights in his last few outings, he stands by his decision to leave his old career behind.
After joking that at times he felt that he "f***ed up" by leaving the job, he explained: "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 a** kicked, and question whether or not I have a job than to go back to the police department.
“I don’t love the police department, I love the people I worked with. 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.”
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