While he took a step back from consuming MMA content and turned down several invites to pay-per-view parties with friends, Daukaus was still very much in the gym, keeping himself prepared, and when he stepped back into the cage, he thrived. He returned to Cage Fighting Fury Championships (CFFC), the outstanding Northeastern US promotion where he reigned as middleweight champion before his initial UFC call-up, and reclaimed the belt in his second fight back to wrap up a successful 2023 campaign.
Last year, Daukaus posted back-to-back stoppage wins while defending his title, fighting with the kind of unshakable confident that had previously escape him whenever he stepped into the Octagon. When he got the call to face Pereira, he was preparing to defend his title again, and was already physically at the point that he was ready to compete. Though the nerves and negative thoughts that plagued him all the way up to the minute he stepped through the curtain and started making the walk in Shanghai might suggest otherwise, Daukaus was, truly, more prepared mentally as well.
When his contract wasn’t renewed, one of the things the Forge MMA representative did was search to find examples of athletes that had exited the UFC, returned, and found success, with the foremost example being flyweight Brandon Moreno, who rose to the top of the division less than two years after returning and a touch over three years after his initial run came to an end.
As Daukaus in the midst of his run of success on the regional circuit, Youssef Zalal re-emerged in the featherweight division, posting a submission win over Billy Quarantillo in his short-notice comeback fight. Earlier this year, “The Moroccan Devil” registered a unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar to push his record to 4-0 since returning to the UFC and earn himself a place in the Top 15 in the 145-pound weight class.
“The first thing I looked up was ‘Who are guys that got re-signed that are doing well?’” he said with a laugh. “I think Youssef might have gotten signed my second or third fight outside of the UFC — it wasn’t that long ago — so I was like, ‘These guys are doing it, so there is no reason I can’t do it too.’
