Ahead of his fight against Modestas Bukauskas this Saturday, UFC light heavyweight Paul Craig spoke with Fighters Only’s Paul Browne about legacy, redemption, and earning one last shot at winning a UFC title.
A Career at a Crossroads
Paul Craig lay on the canvas at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, this past June, wondering whether his time at the top had come to an end.
After a difficult stint at 185 pounds, Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) moved back up to the light heavyweight division earlier this year, where he had previously delivered some of the best performances of his career. With Magomed Ankalaev now holding the belt, “Bearjew” saw an opportunity to leverage his status as the only man to defeat the new champion and make one more run at UFC gold.
But the fresh start he envisioned never materialized against Rodolfo Bellato. A wayward upkick from Craig clipped the kneeling Brazilian, who dropped to the canvas, writhing in agony in what Craig later called “an Oscar-winning performance.”
When the bout was declared a no contest, Craig was left questioning his future. The fight was the last on his UFC contract, and he hadn’t recorded a win inside the Octagon in nearly two years.
“Of course you're worried at that stage because I'm an older guy in this sport,” he says reflecting on the Bellato fight.
“I'm 37 years old, I'll be 38 at the end of the year. I’ve had a lot of fights in the UFC, I know I've not got long left in this sport. What I do believe is that I've got an opportunity still to get within touching distance of that title. That’s very achievable for me. A couple of wins in any division will get you up there, and the way that I fight, I'm all in. But that was the last fight on my contract, and to leave the sport after 20 UFC fights the way that ended would have been rotten.”
A Second Chance
Luckily for Craig, common sense prevailed. After signing a new deal with the UFC, he is now set to face Modestas Bukauskas (18-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) on the main card this Saturday at the Accor Arena in Paris.
While the new contract gives him the chance to look ahead and prepare for another run at the division’s elite, Craig admits he seriously considered walking away from the sport in the immediate aftermath of his last fight.
“It was absolutely a possibility,” he says, recalling his comments after the fight, when he had publicly contemplated retirement.
“I've not wasted a lot of my money. It's not like I stay in a big fancy house, drive big fancy cars, or wear big fancy watches. You won’t see me in Armani or Gucci or suits. I don't live that sort of lifestyle; I've been very sensible with my money. And if you're not fighting to be the best, then what's the point of fighting? That's the way I looked at it, right?
“I'm still in the gym, I'm still training hard, and I'm still winning rounds. I'm still dropping numbers in the sense of conditioning. The minute that starts to diminish and I'm looking up against these young, hungry guys and I'm getting beat every single day in the gym, then that's when I’ll walk away.
“I don't mind training if it's for the greatest organization, that's how I look at this. I said it after that Bellato fight…If this is the end of my career in the UFC, then it's time to walk away. It doesn't matter if I'm 35, 37, or 42. But if the UFC still wants me and I'm still getting better, then I'm happy to be there, and that's for me a mark of any camp I go into.
“I'm a better than the last version of myself that fought in the UFC, and I believe that I am always getting better, right? You don’t always get the victory, but as long as I'm getting better, I'll stay in this sport.”
Reigniting a Light Heavyweight Career
Craig gets another chance to kickstart his light heavyweight career this weekend when he faces former Cage Warriors champion Modestas Bukauskas. The UK-based Lithuanian has looked like a fighter reborn since re-signing with the UFC in 2023.
“The Baltic Gladiator” endured three consecutive losses and a serious knee injury during his first stint with the promotion but has bounced back impressively, winning seven of his last eight fights.
“It's an exciting match,” Craig says of this Saturday’s bout.
“When the UFC came to me and asked me ‘when will you be ready,’ I wasn’t expecting them to offer me Modestas. I thought it would be Bellato again, which didn’t really excite me. So I was like, ‘Right here we go,’ and they said Modestas Bukauskas, and I was like, ‘Oh that's a beauty.’ He’s a very good striker, he’s training with Tom Aspinall and all the guys down there (in the north of England), and it’s a fight that really excites me.”
“I’m at a point in my career now where I need to have exciting fights, fights that make me train hard, fights that I want to win, fights that I know I can win. And for this, it's one of these. It's like a Battle of Britain. I know Bukauskas is from Lithuania, but he’s been based in the UK for such a long time, he's the UK number one light heavyweight and he was for a long time. He's won the Cage Warriors title a few times, that's what's getting me excited. This is pretty much about who's the best light heavyweight in the UK skillset-wise.”
Legacy and Grappling Prowess
With six submission wins in UFC light heavyweight competition, Craig is just one shy of Glover Teixeira’s all-time record of seven. He also holds the record for the most wins by triangle choke in the division’s history, an achievement the veteran takes great pride in.
“I do believe that my jiu jitsu is among the best in the light heavyweight division, if not in the higher weight classes,” he beams.
“I've got a lot of accolades, which I love. I love the fact that my legacy lives on even when I'm not in this sport, and I want to keep building on that. There's one guy standing in front of me, and it's Modestas. And he's got a great skill set. I just think that in these particular areas (the grappling exchanges) that I'm better than him. When it comes to the stand up, we’ve seen him put people away. He's on a great trajectory in his career, an upward swing.”
Aiming for Redemption
“I know my last few fights haven't gone the way I wanted, with losses to the likes of Caio Borralho, Brendan Allen, Bo Nickal. It's not ideal, and then having all that upset with Rodolfo (Bellato), I know it's not looking great for me. In this sport, one punch can change your life again, and I do believe that's what's going to happen. I do believe a victory here on Saturday will project me into the top 15 again. That's what I walked away from when I moved down to the middleweight division.
“I left here as number 9 at light heavyweight before I moved to 185 pounds, and I would like to get back to that kind of position. But this Saturday is a huge fight, and we’re on the main card for a reason and it’s because it's going to be an absolute war. I can take shots, I've shown it before, and I'm going there to get this victory by any means necessary.”
