\n<\/p>\n
In his youth, Bukauskas played tennis and basketball, even moving across the world to pursue the latter, but every road led him back to fighting.<\/p>\n
Once his heart issue was resolved, Bukauskas focused entirely on mixed martial arts – bar a short side quest aged 24 when he appeared on ITV dating show Take Me Out – and was signed by the UFC with a 10-2 record.<\/p>\n
He won his first fight but slipped to three defeats in a row. He blew his knee out in a defeat by Khalil Rountree in 2021.<\/p>\n
The UFC cut him afterwards and so began another difficult chapter in the life of the young Bukauskas.<\/p>\n
“There was a lot of times just in my room, like within my four walls with my knee in a cast… a lot of times where it was very painful, drinking myself to sleep,” he explains.<\/p>\n
Deep down, he knew this was not a sustainable path to sporting success.<\/p>\n
“Obviously I’m not proud of that,” Bukauskas says.<\/p>\n
“I guess you could say I’ve always been taught in the household to be mentally tough, so I never really looked at it like [I was depressed].<\/p>\n
“It was my way of escaping the real world.”<\/p>\n
Bukauskas hid the drinking from his father. He spent weeks in a dark place in his mind he had never been to before.<\/p>\n
But his father and those closest around him were a constant source of reassurance, and Bukauskas re-emerged stronger.<\/p>\n
“You just ride that wave,” he says.<\/p>\n
“When you’re looking up at the mountain, you’re standing there at the bottom; obviously it looks quite daunting, but you make gradual steps.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n