Scottish light heavyweight veteran Paul Craig will (17-9-1) look to bounce back from a bizarre outcome in his last fight when he faces Modestas Bukauskas (18-6) at UFC Paris.
UFC officials announced the pairing on Monday, with Craig finding his back against the wall in the bout, having posted a 1-5 record, plus a No Contest, in his last seven fights. It’s that No Contest that Craig is coming off of, after Rodolfo Bellato was rendered unable to continue following an illegal upkick landed by the Scotsman in the opening round of their UFC Atlanta fight last month.
Bellato was heavily criticized for not continuing on in the fight, with some accusing him of looking for a way out.
Prior to that, Craig had dropped a trio of fights to Bo Nickal, Caio Borralho, and Brendan Allen.
With a 5-1 record on his second run with the UFC, Modestas Bukauskas will enter the fight on a three-fight winning streak. Most recently, “The Baltic Gladiator” earned a split decision win over Ion Cutelaba. Bukauskas, 31, is a two-time Cage Warriors light heavyweight champion.
UFC Paris takes place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France on September 6, 2025. The card is headlined by Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho in middleweight action, with the following match-ups reported for the event to date:
- Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho
- Andreas Gustafsson vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
- Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija
- Bolaji Oki vs. Mason Jones
- Kennedy Freeman vs. Yuneisy Duben
- Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
- Brendson Ribeiro vs. Oumar Sy
- Paul Craig vs. Modestas Bukauskas
