Chris Daukaus wasn’t sure who was going to be next for him.
After Daukaus lost back-to-back fights to Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes, he knew he needed to take some time off. After taking several months off, he was booked to face Jairzinho Rozenstruik in October. Yet, the fight got pushed back to UFC 282 which Daukaus is fine with.
“Me and Rozenstruik were scheduled to fight on October 1 but from my understanding, there was something on his end on why it got pushed back,” Daukaus said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “But, I accepted it and pretty much told the UFC that I was available on that day if they wanted a different opponent but would also move back. They said they would keep me matched up and push us back to the end of the year. Just taking time off and letting my body heal.”
When Daukaus was booked to face Rozenstruik, he began studying the heavyweight contender and started to like the matchup. He knows Rozenstruik has a ton of KO power. But, given that ‘Bigi Boy’ is a counterpuncher, Daukaus believes the matchup favors him.
“I think I match up well, I think I’m the better athlete, faster and more technical. Really the only thing, you can say he has that one-punch knockout power,” Daukaus said. “He has it throughout his entire fight, he knocked out Overeem with like 10 seconds left. He is going to carry that power no matter where we are at. I do think I’m a bad matchup for him and better in all areas. Come December 10 that is what is going to happen.”
Not only does Chris Daukaus believe he can have success on the feet, but he also plans to make this an MMA fight. He knows he has the ability to wrestle, which he hasn’t shown in his fights so far, but says that is in his back pocket for him.
Along with possibly wrestling, Daukaus also plans to push the pace and see if Jairzinho Rozenstruik can keep up.
“I’m expecting him to be a full counterpuncher and not pushing the pace and not going at my pace. He’s the type of guy to see what you are going to do and then counters off that,” Daukaus explained. “I want to push a good pace on him and make it an MMA fight and see if he can keep up. If he can keep up, good for him, if not, it sucks for him.”
Should Daukaus get his hand raised on Saturday night at UFC 282, he isn’t sure what will be next for him. Yet, the plan for the Philly native is to just stack up some wins and work his way back up to the top five of the division.
“We will see, there are some guys that are making a run. We get through Rozenstruik and we see who is in what spot. I don’t think I’m in a position to jump back into where I was before the Derrick Lewis fight, getting a top-five guy,” Daukaus concluded. “They will probably offer me someone around where I’m at or lower in the rankings. It doesn’t matter to me as long as I’m fighting and winning, it doesn’t matter who I’m fighting.”
Do you think Chris Daukaus will beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 282?