Kyle Daukaus was just as surprised as everybody else when he got announced as one of the fighters who would compete on the upcoming UFC White House card on Sunday.
Originally scheduled to face Vicente Luque in April, Daukaus got a call from his manager telling him that UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell wanted to speak with him. A call from one of the top executives can sometimes be a little daunting but Daukaus was pleasantly surprised by the context of the conversation.
“I wasn’t sure what
was going on,” Daukaus told MMA Fighting. “We were on a three-way call, Hunter said that he knew I had a fight in April but he wanted me to fight on the White House card. I was very excited and very happy and very grateful that I’ve been chosen for it.
“It was also amazing talking to Hunter and he was like ‘I know your fight’s in April, we’re going to pull you from that, transfer you over to the White House card, so we don’t have any bumps or bruises that could potentially pull you out of the fight.’ I said all right, thank you, it’s an amazing opportunity, an amazing event, an amazing spectacle that it will be at the White House. I’m excited just to be picked for it.”
Daukaus was offered the fight against Bo Nickal, the three-time NCAA wrestling champion and one of the top prospects on the entire UFC roster. Add to that, Nickal has befriended President Donald Trump so his inclusion on the White House card made perfect sense.
But that puts Daukaus in a strange position because he’s not only the underdog in the fight but it almost seems like he’s being set up to lose with so much attention being paid to Nickal.
None of that matters much to the 33-year-old veteran from Philadelphia, who understood the narrative as soon as the fight got made and it’s up to him to change those headlines come Monday morning.
“Obviously, you know he’s going to be on the card just because of the political aspect of it with all that stuff,” Daukaus said. “But I have seen that people are saying it’s not an easy fight. No fight is easy regardless of who you’re fighting. Even if you’re fighting a guy that’s really bad, there’s always a chance that you could get clipped.
“Obviously, I pose a very big threat to him. That’s a big plus on my side. I’m just very thankful I was chosen to go against him. I would have expected us to fight if we’re both ranked in a couple of fights but better now than later.”
Heading into the fight, Nickal has only tasted defeat once in his career and that came from a body-shot knockout courtesy of Reinier de Ridder, who is a tall, lanky fighter with a nasty ground game.
Daukaus could easily be described much the same way but he believes he actually poses a lot more problems for Nickal, although he’d love it if the results were the same.
“I feel like I’m a better fighter than de Ridder would be than going out there and fighting him like that,” Daukaus said. “I feel like I have a better skill set. My striking’s a little bit better than de Ridder’s so I feel like it’s something that I have an advantage of in this fight.”
Now in his third fight and second stint with the UFC, Daukaus is certainly making the most of his opportunities.
When he fought out his UFC contract back in 2022 and the promotion opted not to re-sign him, Daukaus had to figure out if he was going to sit and sulk or do something about it.
He preferred the latter option, which resulted in an impressive four-fight win streak including three finishes and that earned him a second chance with the UFC.
In his two fights since returning, Daukaus has been fighting like a man on fire with two wins — neither making it to the one-minute mark in the opening round — and he added a knockout and a submission to his record.
“I think just maturity in myself, belief in my ability and everything,” Daukaus said about the biggest difference between his first and second stints with the UFC. “The first stint in the UFC kind of rubbed me the wrong way just with how the fights went and then I had my first son and something really changed. Having your first kid gives you a little extra motivation. Not saying motivation is something that’s super big but it’s good to have when you’re training.
“I feel like before when I was fighting, I always viewed it as a sport, like good sportsmanship and I wasn’t really out there to hurt anybody. Unfortunately with the mindset I have now, that’s what I’m going in there to do. It’s made me better. It’s skyrocketed my skills. It showed that I’m leaps and bounds above fighting on the regional scene and I should have been in the UFC the whole time. I just needed to have that little mental click of going in there and hurting these guys. That’s where I’ve been lately.”
Daukaus knows he’s a much better fighter now than he was when he left the UFC four years ago and he expects to display that again on Sunday against Nickal.
“I’d easily run through the Kyle Daukaus that was back there in 2020,” Daukaus said. “I feel a ton better. It does humble you [leaving the UFC]. Not only does it humble you but it lights a fire under your ass when you get released and it’s like my career is not going to end like this. I’m not just going to stop fighting.
“I’m going to make sure that I can create a story with this and show people that I can get back there and do big things.”
