Sometimes they don’t go down like how you had envisaged. 

Chris Daukaus, the 32-year-old police officers turned MMA fighter, suffered his second defeat in succession in the UFC’s heavyweight frame when he knocked out early into the second round in a bout with divisional stalwart Curtis Blaydes. The pair of losses (the other of which came in December against Derrick Lewis) came after an impressive four-fight winning streak which opened his UFC career, defeating the likes of experienced veterans Alexei Oleynik and Shamil Abdhurakhimov.

The defeat makes it two main event fights that the Philadelphia native has lost on the bounce.

But after the loss to Blaydes knocked him down another couple of rungs on the heavyweight rankings ladder, Daukaus took to social media to make a statement after the defeat — and said that he refuses to linger too long on the negativity which often follows a defeat.

There’s always negativity from people after a loss, often we linger too long on that. I’m very appreciative for the people who have not done that and who have reached out with positivity. You guys are the best, especially @Boogerbeard1 @MacMallyMMA thank you.

— Chris Daukaus (@ChrisDaukausMMA) March 27, 2022

There’s always negativity from people after a loss, often we linger too long on that. I’m very appreciative for the people who have not done that and who have reached out with positivity. You guys are the best, especially @Boogerbeard1 @MacMallyMM. Thank you.”

Daukaus remains among the list of names heralded by some as the next wave of heavyweight talent, along with the likes of Tom Aspinall and Tai Tuivasa — with those two yet to reach their thirtieth birthday in a division mostly populated by fighters in their mid-thirties onwards. Daukaus, at 32, isn’t too far ahead of them.

Daukaus, though, will have to go back to the drawing board a while but his relatively (to the division at least) young age ensures that he has plenty of time to do so.