“Before I turned pro, I started doing a lot of mental repetition and mental training — I read a lot of mental performance books and stuff like that,” said Daukaus, who began his professional career with nine straight wins on the highly competitive East Coast regional circuit. “Being as successful as I was when I turned pro, I kind of got away from all that, and I think that made me kind of lazy in a way. Being undefeated, I had all the confidence in the world.
“After I lost, it humbles you a little bit, and I got back to my roots again,” continued Daukaus, who began detailing his daily goals and intentions in a notebook following his loss to Allen. “I got back to what got me there.
“I do the mental repetitions every single fight. Every morning, I have a little five-minute thing that I do in my notebook — I write down my goals for the day, my AM and PM sessions, just so I have it written down and it keep me on top of myself and makes sure that I’ve done everything that I need to be doing.”
He also writes down what is going to happen when he next steps into the Octagon.
“I’ve written down in this book that I’m going to beat Aliaskhab Khizriev on April 10, 2021 and be 11-1 and in the UFC,” he added. “It’s the same thing I did last fight and I’ll do every day.”
Should things work out as detailed in his notebook, Daukaus envisions an active year inside the Octagon and following the path his brother has taken, graduating from facing newcomers and unheralded talents to sharing the Octagon with established names in hopes of ending the year within striking range of the Top 5.
“After I win this fight, after I beat this guy, I’m not going to be asking to fight guys that are making their debuts or fighting guys off of the Contender Series again — I want guys with numbers next to their names and I don’t want to take anything less,” he said emphatically. “I want to climb the ranks and be a potential title contender within the next year or so.
“Maybe at the end of this year I can fight one of the Top 10 guys, and maybe next year I can start cracking that Top 10 and getting my name in the Top 5.”