“I have to admit, for most of my life I’ve always been the guy who’s sort of been pushed to the side or not been the popular kid,” he said. “And before it used to be such a big thing. I want to be the popular guy; I want to be the most liked guy. Now I don’t care. I’ve got to go for what’s mine and that’s it. To some people I might be a bit like marmite – you either hate or love it – but I just try to be who I am. You’ve got to be your own character; you can’t be no one else.”
He gets to show who he is on Fight Island shortly, and it’s been quite the wait for Bukauskas, who signed with the UFC in January and had a fight against Vinicius Moreira booked for May before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. That put everything on hold for everyone.
“I really wanted to make an American debut, so obviously it was a little bit disappointing that this whole situation happened but, at the end of the day, I’m always trying to look at the positives, I’m always looking at what things I can take from it that are still gonna help me improve, not just as an athlete but as a person as well.”
That meant brushing up on his Lithuanian, which had gone rusty since he and his family moved to London when he was three years old, and he even found a girlfriend during the pandemic, and that’s got to be a pretty rare feat in and of itself. Yeah, he trained too, which was a no brainer considering that his head coach (and father) Gintas was in the room right next to him with a gym in the same house.
Guess there’s no calling in sick for training in the Bukauskas household?
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“We’ve actually got a very good relationship,” he said. “The only time it really gets annoying is when there’s loads of exercises in strength and conditioning that you don’t want to do and he makes you do it. You just have to power through because if you say no to your head coach, you’re probably going to get a cane to the bum or something. (Laughs) But we’re best friends. And a big thanks to my stepmom as well because she’s been a massive inspiration and help for all of us. As a family, we’ve reconnected even more during this time.”
