Nate Landwehr stole the show this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 41.
The UFC featherweight put himself on the map with his gutsy, Fight of the Night win over David Onama at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Landwehr (16-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) won a majority decision after going back-and-forth in an all-out war with Onama (10-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in the co-main event.
The fight was one of the most talked-about moments of the weekend and should be considered a Fight of the Year contender. And Landwehr enjoyed every minute of it.
“Yeah, I’ve had a lot of fun,” Landwehr said on “The MMA Hour.” “All my fights in Russia were badass fights. I also had some badass fights on the regional scene, and I’m glad I brought that to the UFC.”
Landwehr got tagged bad in the first round and looked close to succumbing to Onama’s power. The 34-year-old admits he had it tough early, but there was no way he was quitting.
“I mean, he caught me with a good one,” Landwehr said. “All you can do is keep going. What was I going to say? ‘Mama I can’t go?'”
He later added, “I got the heart of a champion, and everyone that’s around me knows that. There ain’t no stopping me.”
Landwehr bounced back in Round 2 to put a beating on Onama. Two of the three judges scored the round 10-8 for Landwehr, who believes he could’ve stopped Onama but got caught up entertaining the crowd.
“It was half my fault too,” Landwehr said. “I mean, I was having a good time. It was a great time. I think everything played out well. ..
“I could’ve finished it a couple of times, but that’s in the past and onto the next. I think anytime I would’ve started rapid fire for 10 seconds straight and the ref would’ve called it. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have let his ass up the last time because he clocked my ass. … But no, I think I got more notoriety doing it how it went.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 41.
