Modestas Bukauskas believes a potential fight against Paul Craig at UFC 286 in London would prove who the best light-heavyweight from Britain is.
Bukauskas, 29, triumphantly returned to the UFC earlier this month by winning a decision against Tyson Pedro in Australia. His first stint in the promotion ended when he was cut in 2021 after losing three consecutive fights, but Bukauskas received a second chance on less than two weeks' notice to face Pedro after his original opponent withdrew.
‘The Baltic Gladiator’ called out top contender Craig after beating Pedro and is keen on making a quick turnaround as he wants the fight to take place at the UFC’s upcoming pay-per-view event in London on March 18. Bukauskas believes that he and Craig are currently the two best light-heavyweights in the world from Britain.
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"UK light-heavyweight number one against UK light-heavyweight number two. it's been like that for ages now, me and him have been the number one and number two guys in the UK. What better way to find out who is the top man than to do it in London, obviously in front of my home town crowd would be amazing after just fighting in the opposing crowd," Bukauskas told Mirror Fighting.
"He's a great competitor, obviously he's got skillsets that he's good at and there are certain skillsets that I'm very good at as well. I just think it would be an amazing matchup and it would be a fight that I can show my skillsets off even more. It would be entertaining for the fans for sure."
The UFC light-heavyweight title picture has changed a lot since Bukauskas was cut by the UFC in 2021, with Jamahal Hill now holding the undisputed belt at the weight class. Bukauskas feels the top contenders at 205lb haven't changed since his first stint for the promotion, but the battle of lower-ranked contenders looking to climb their way up the ladder has.
"There's definitely been of newly signed guys that are fighting more often and you're hearing more about them, those are guys that I'm going to be eyeing up as well. The championship has made moves but the top contenders have remained a bit stagnant, now it's more of a battle to get up to that point. There's some bright prospects coming through, like myself, and it's going to make for a very interesting division in the coming years," Bukauskas added.
