Former UFC heavyweight Chris Daukaus takes on fellow octagon veteran Tafon Nchukwi at CFFC 134 on August 16, in what is now officially the card’s main event.
That, after the title fight between Luke Fernandez and Will Dicke fell through.
For Daukaus, it’s a return to fighting (and to the heavyweight division) for the first time since his exit from the UFC, which he went into detail on in a recent interview with Cageside Press.
The end of Daukaus’ run with the company came with an offer to fight Ion Cutelaba — an offer he had to decline due to injury.
“I had an injury, I don’t want to say what the injury was. But the type of injury that I had, no athletic commission was going to sanction me to fight,” explained Daukaus (12-7), who last fought in August of 2023 in a loss to Khalil Rountree Jr. “Could it have been better conveyed to the matchmakers in the UFC? Yeah. It was the type if injury that, let’s say it happened on a Wednesday, then they reached out, UFC reached out about a fight less than two days later. Maybe three days later, I told them I had an injury, I’ll send you all the documentation, I can’t fight.”
“Sorry, that’s the end of the road” was the response Daukaus received.
Daukaus offered to fight out his contract, which had two fights remaining on it, after he healed up, even if the promotion wasn’t going to re-sign him. “No hard feelings, that’s just how the business goes,” was his approach. The UFC instead suggested that he work his way back. “Have a good day, thanks for everything you did. Get some wins, do what you’ve got to do to get back and then we’ll call you afterwards,” was essentially what he head back.
Returning to Cage Fury FC, where he competed earlier in his career, appears to have been a no-brainer. “There’s very few promotions outside of the big two, or big three, UFC, ONE, and PFL/Bellator, whatever they’re considered, that you’d want to fight for. Especially, they’re really the guys, not to throw shade at anybody else or anybody else’s promotions, but there are very few promotions outside of those guys who have the level of competition and who will give you that platform to where get back to that level, to that level of competition in the UFC, PFL/Bellator, ONE, whatever it is.”
As for CFFC, the list of who he was willing to fight for was short, noted Daukaus, “and it just made sense. Local guys, I had a history with them, everything’s always been great with them.” Not to mention brother Kyle is also fighting for CFFC again. After Kyle Daukaus’ last fight, Chris approached the promotion about taking a fight there as well. “I was a little fat at the time, so I said heavyweight. But after this fight, we’ll see how this goes, get everything back in and I’ll probably being going back down to 205.”
Of course, a return to the UFC is the goal. “That’s always the goal. I’m not thinking I’m some 24-year old dude. The time frame is certainly shortened. But the goal is always to get wins, obviously, and the goal is to get back to the UFC, the premiere organization in the sport.”
That’s not to say Daukaus wouldn’t consider an offer from one of the other major players in MMA. Especially should the UFC come back with an entry-level contract offer.
“If somebody else is reaching out, obviously I’m going to make the calculated and the financial decision to go there. Like if the UFC comes back and then they’re like ‘alright we’re going to start you back out’ with their beginning contract, ideally I would not like that. Then if someone else is offering, like if the PFL is like ‘hey we’ll give you a shot in the tournament,’ then I’ll f*cking do the tournament.”
After all, a million dollars beats 12/12. “Yes it does. Yes it certainly does.”
Watch our full interview with CFFC 134’s Chris Daukaus above.
