MODESTAS BUKAUSKAS has gone from looking to take a date to the Isle of Fernandos to attempting to take out the UFC\u2019s elite light-heavyweights.<\/p>\n
Nearly seven years ago, a 24-year-old Bukauskas appeared on the hit ITV Show \u2018Take Me Out\u2019 looking to bag himself a date and jet off to the Canary Island.<\/p>\n
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Modestas Bukauskas is on the cusp of entering the top-15 of the UFC\u2019s light-heavyweight divisionCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n
The Lithuanian-born Brit is flying high on four-fight win streakCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n
Bukuaskas bagged himself a date with Shelly after baring his heart, soul and ambition to make it to the UFC, which raised a few eyebrows.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to 2026, and Lithuanian-born Brit Bukauskas is on the cusp of becoming a one of the best 205-pounders in the world.<\/p>\n
And he owes some of the confidence he\u2019s brimming with in his second stint in MMA\u2019s top promotion to that appearance on the beloved, but since-cancelled, show.<\/p>\n
He told SunSport: \u201cThinking back, I was 24 when I went on Take Me Out. And even watching the clips back, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my gosh, who is this guy?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cNo facial hair, and I still had the proper young vibes. But as I said, I\u2019ve always had this dream of mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny sport that I was doing, I always wanted to be the best at it. <\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to be world level in terms of my skill set, and I\u2019ve always wanted to be a champion. I\u2019ve always wanted to do massive things. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven my dad always tells me all the time, he says,\u2019 You\u2019ve always had it within you to be able to do great things.\u2019<\/p>\n
Modestas Bukauskas appeared on hit ITV dating show Take Me Out seven years agoCredit: ITV<\/p>\n
\u2018The Baltic\u2019 Gladiator showed then host Paddy McGuinness some of his movesCredit: ITV<\/p>\n
Appearing on the show gave a then 24-year-old Bukauskas a massive confidence boostCredit: ITV<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when I was born, he said, \u2018I just knew that there was going to be something about this kid.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a testament and a credit to my dad, actually, for pushing me to be resilient. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor all the hard training sessions that I had when I was younger. And as it continued on in my life, the things that he taught me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWith Take Me Out, the reason why I did that show in the first place was just to get exposure and to do something different.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was like my first sort of time to unlock my confidence within myself. Because I was always a bit of a shy kid when I was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of not really the popular guy and and stuff like this. People kind of always brushed me off to the side. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo that was my first time to like show myself to the world a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously through a dating show and stuff like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was almost like to unlock my personality and just be like, \u2018Do you know what?<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I\u2019m just going to be authentically myself and not really care what people think.<\/p>\n
Modestas Bukauskas brutalised Brit MMA legend Paul Craig in his last outing last SeptemberCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think that sort of mindset has carried me forward, not only in life, but in my career [too]. And that\u2019s what\u2019s got me essentially here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bukauskas\u2019 shot at the light-heavyweight big time comes on a stacked UFC 324 card in Las Vegas early on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
Standing between the 31-year-old and a spot in the rankings is veteran 205er Nikita Krylov, who remains one of the trickier customers in the division.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian-born Russian has lost his last two on the bounce by knockout, but Bukauskas insists he\u2019s far from over the hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is probably my biggest test to date,\u201d Bukauskas said of his first outing of the year. <\/p>\n
\u201cNikita Krylov, in my opinion, over the course of all the fights that I\u2019ve fought, is probably the most well-rounded athlete.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very chaotic, he\u2019s got good striking and good grappling. And he\u2019s got a lot of submission wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a hell of a lot of experience, he\u2019s got so many fights. So this is kind of like the pinnacle of my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I feel like every single fight has been a a gradual step up in competition. And obviously, he\u2019s very motivated because he\u2019s coming off two losses.<\/p>\n
Nikita Krylov stands between Modestas Bukauskas and a spout in the light-heavyweight top-15Credit: GETTY<\/p>\n
This is probably my biggest test to date.u0022<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tModestas Bukuaskas on Nikita Kyrlov\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he\u2019s gonna be raring to go. He\u2019s gonna be like, \u2018Do you know what? <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I need to put it on this prospect and show that I\u2019m still within the top 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he\u2019s going to be coming in highly motivated. For me, this is my toughest opponent to date and my toughest test to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it goes in line with my progression in the sport and my progression in fighting slightly higher opposition every single time.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is like the perfect step up for me from my last opponent and I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Respect for Krylov aside, Bukauskas wholeheartedly believes he\u2019ll punch his ticket to the top 15 and future bouts with the big names in the division with a stoppage victory in Sin City.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019ll be,\u201d he said when asked for his prediction. \u201cAnother finish from from the feet, essentially.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously Nikita\u2019s very dangerous, especially when he does his his blitz style moves from the karate style.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut essentially, there are going to be openings that are going to be presented to me and it\u2019s just my job to go out there and take them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MODESTAS BUKAUSKAS has gone from looking to take a date to the Isle of Fernandos to attempting to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85,787],"class_list":{"0":"post-432404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}