Orlando, FL – UFC middleweight Kyle Daukaus has had a bit of an up-and-down UFC run, but he looks to get back on track when he faces Eryk Anders at UFC Orlando on Saturday night.
Daukaus (11-3) is coming off a first round KO loss to Roman Dolidze back in June at UFC Austin.
“Staying in a positive mindset is obviously something that fighters have to do. Something that I’m doing 24/7. I have little notebooks and stuff like that, that I keep tabs on how my day is going, how training is going, everything like that,” Daukaus told the press on Wednesday.
“I said in prior interviews that my last fight kind of ended really, really quickly. That it didn’t really…didn’t really feel like too much heartbreak on the loss in a way. Just because it ended so quickly, and that’s kind of the way it went.”
The fight lasted just over a minute and it was done before Daukaus knew what had happened.
“So I didn’t really have time to dwell on it or anything like that. I had more time to worry about my face and all that stuff. Just worry about the next fight.”
Keeping a notebook is something that Daukaus picked up off a former teammate and has been doing every since.
“Back when I was an early professional one of my training partners Zach Makovsky, who was in the UFC formerly, gave me a couple books that I read on,” he said.
“I think it’s something that like everybody can kind of get better on. A lot of the guys and the fighters that think they have to be like brutes and like ‘ah mindset doesn’t mean anything to me I’m just going to go in there and kill somebody’ and do whatever and what not. You have to be real with yourself.”
Putting it on the line in front of thousands of fans can get to fighters as Daukaus alluded to.
“It’s nerve-racking going out there and fighting in front of fans, and you have to go out there and perform. Some guys can turn it on and some guys it doesn’t turn on. So I think it’s just very tough for fighters to deal with and just admit to themselves that they need it,” said Daukaus.
“I think that’s the biggest problem. Guys don’t admit that they need it, but once you have it, you perform very well.”
Daukaus takes on Eryk Anders who is known to make fights ugly, turn it into a brawl, and force opponents to abandon game plans.
“I’m not at all going to make it a brawl. I don’t want it to be a brawl. The more it’s a brawl the more it plays in his favor,” he said.
“I have to be technical, cool , calm and collected. And go out there and be the best version of myself. Obviously I want the best Eryk to be in there as well to challenge me.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Kyle Daukaus above. Daukaus takes on Eryk Anders at UFC Orlando on Dec.3rd
