Nate Landwehr guaranteed himself a spot on every “Fight of the Year” list for 2022 with his epic three-round battle against David Onama this past Saturday at UFC San Diego.
Landwehr stormed back from early trouble to win a majority decision in one of the wildest wars of attrition MMA has seen all year. His unbelievable heroics nearly ended before they began, however, when he suffered a grisly flash knockdown in the bout’s opening minutes.
“Man! ***, he clocked him — I don’t recall that,” Landwehr laughed on The MMA Hour . Landwehr said, “In my head, it was me in it. Do you see what I’m referring to? … I was captivated by his good idea. You can only keep moving. Was I really going to say “Mama, ?’
“?
“[My corner] understood the agreement. I’ve got the heart of a champion and everybody that’s around me knows that there ain’t no stopping me unless I get stopped.”
Landwehr ultimately stayed true to those words. He gutted through the early adversity to then take charge in rounds two and three, nearly finishing Onama multiple times.
Unsurprisingly, both men were transported to the hospital afterward for precautionary reasons — and according to Landwehr, the two had another brief exchange once there.
“I saw him at the hospital,” Landwehr stated. “I was like, ‘I told you, you was gonna bleed, man. Well you bleeded, didn’t you?’ That’s what I told him at the weigh-ins — at the weigh-in I was like, ‘You think you’re the boogeyman, bro. Tomorrow, you gonna bleed.'”
. @NateTheTrain ran into opponent David Onama at the hospital after their fight and his message was on brand #TheMMAHour
“I told you you was going to bleed, man. You bleeded, didn’t you? “
> https://t.co/ZU4zhGOX3p pic.twitter.com/yPsvamPIC2
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 15, 2022
All in all it was Landwehr’s most memorable UFC win, and a show that sent San Diego’s Pechanga Arena wild.
Landwehr theatrics during the few breaks in the action didn’t hurt matters either, even if the 34-year-old Tennessee native has some regrets.
“There was one point — I don’t know if it was on TV or not — but I started stomping on the two stomps, one clap,” Landwehr said. It was between round two and round three, Landwehr said. “Bro, it wasn’t clear if that was the case, but I tried two stomps, one tap a few times, then the entire crowd began two-stomping one-clapping. It was quite loud. It was pretty tight. It was the biggest fight I have ever seen, and it was overwhelming because of how packed it was.
“In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have let his ass up that last time — he clocked my ass. When I was getting out of the hospital, I was like, ‘In hindsight, man, 20-20 looking back, I would’ve went ahead and hit him with that [rapid-fire volley of punches] and the ref probably would’ve stopped it.’ But I think I got more notoriety doing it how it went.”
This notoriety has taken a while to come about.
A 10-year veteran who’s fought around the world, Landwehr reigned as the M-1 Global featherweight champion prior to his UFC run. He went a perfect 5-0 with the promotion from 2017-19 and established himself as one of the most exciting fighters outside of the UFC en route to defending his M-1 Global title twice. The experience turned him into somewhat of a minor celebrity in Russia, and Landwehr still looks back on his time there fondly.
“It was a wonderful experience. Could you imagine an American dude like me that’s been watching Rocky his whole life, get a call, ‘You’re going to Moscow to fight in the Olympic stadium against the Russians.’ S***, it was like they wrote that s*** up, and it was like you’re starring in a movie, baby,” Landwehr said.
“It was the greatest experience of my life. Sometimes I wish I would have made it to the UFC quicker, but my journey is special to me. … You are treated so well [in Russia]. They are so kind to you. I’m not sure what they think about other nations and how they treat their power, strength, bravery and respect. But they will accept any fighters.
“I was telling those guys in fighter interviews,” Landwehr continued, “I was like, ‘Dude, I’m kind of more famous in Russia than here.’ But they’re catching up. It was a good fight that I needed. That [Onama fight] was the fight that I needed, because I can fight my ass off, but I think I’m a good, good, good — maybe even a great — entertainer.”
Now riding his first UFC hot streak, Landwehr hopes to keep his momentum going. He’s won three of his past four UFC appearances and already has his eyes on a few names next.
” I would be happy to touch [Andre] the ‘Touchy Fili. Landwehr stated that it would be a good banger. I would not mind taking Charles Jourdain’s air.
“I wouldn’t mind taking $50k from Dan Ige. Zombies the zombie — I would not mind taking $[**************************************************k from Dan Ige.
