New York, NY — In his second fight since returning to the UFC, middleweight Kyle Daukaus earned his second sub-minute stoppage, submitting Gerald “GM3” Meerschaert with a D’arce choke.
That builds on his knockout of Michel Pereira in August, and has solidified a great start to his second run with the company, after going 2-4, 1NC from 2020 to 2022.
Against Meerchaert, inside Madison Square Garden (Daukaus hails from Philadelphia, not all that far away), Kyle Daukaus (17-4, 1NC) put on a well-rounded display in the little time he was in action. That included displaying a newfound comfort in his striking ability.
“At this stage of my career, where I am, I know I have to evolve. The sport is ever-evolving. That’s something I’ve always been working on,” Daukaus (17-4, 1NC) explained following the bout, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “I started out actually kickboxing, I have two kickboxing fights. Jiu-jitsu just happened to be kind of the route to go in MMA. I always have it as backup. A lot of people haven’t seen it, but now it’s shown, so it feels great.”
Without taking anything away from Meerschaert, and calling him dangerous, “his striking game really never evolved, if you look at it. It’s kind of always been the same, so I knew I could take advantage of that.”
With such a hot start, Daukaus opined that “the sky’s the limit I feel.”
“This is something I’ve been working towards my whole life, I really have, and it’s just showing. There’s a lot of guys that are coming up now in this game that are very good and very talented, and I feel like I’m one of those guys. So I’m just thankful.”
Asked what has changed that has allowed him to get back to the UFC with the start that he’s had, Daukaus narrowed it down to confidence.
“Just the confidence in my ability. I’m undefeated regionally, so I just had to put that in the back of my mind, stepping up here,” he told Cageside Press. Daukaus feels many fighters see the bright lights of the UFC, and let it get to them. That includes himself during his first run in the promotion. “Venues like these and organizations like this, there’s no difference between here and regionally. The only thing that’s different is how they run their businesses.”
Except for the money, of course, with Daukaus noting regional shows don’t pay enough. “The way the UFC runs their shows is perfect and great, but again you’re stepping into the cage to fight somebody. If you can do that regionally, there’s no difference to not be able to do it here.”
Watch the full UFC 322 post-fight press conference with Kyle Daukaus above.
