David Onama fills in for Zuba Tukhugov, faces Nate Landwehr at UFC on ESPN 41
We’ve just been informed of a very exciting switch of opponents in the featherweight division.
Russian talent Zubaira Tukhugov was initially slated to face former M-1 Challenge featherweight champion Nate Landwehr at UFC on ESPN 41, but he’s since been forced out of the bout with VISA issues.
In turn, the UFC decided to put Tukhugov on the UFC 280 card opposing Lucas Almeida, a 14-1 talent that just finished The Ultimate Fighter 28 veteran Mike Trizano via TKO in his UFC debut earlier this year in June.
UFC 280 is to go down on Fight Island, therefor Tukhugov will have no problem getting into the country for a fight.
That turn of events left Nate Landwehr without a dance partner, until the UFC replaced Tukhugov with David Onama.
This booking is still expected to go down at UFC on ESPN 41, on August 13, 2022, live from the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
Following Nate Landwehr’s 5-0 run with M-1 Challenge, he’d debut in the UFC with a record of 13-2, losing to Herbert Burns (KO). He’d follow this up with a unanimous decision victory over Darren Elkins, before losing to Julian Erosa (TKO), again being finished with the same method as his promotional debut (knee).
Don’t let that fool you though, because Landwehr is incredibly durable, and he’s since followed that defeat up with the first submission victory of his career (anaconda choke), as he choked Ludovit Klein out in round three of their contest back in October of last year, improving his record to 15-4 in the process (8 knockout, 1 submission, 6 decision).
Klein just dominated former Cage Warriors champ-champ Mason Jones last weekend, and he’s now 2-0 in his new division of 155 lbs. That win has aged quite well.
David Onama on the other hand came to the UFC with a record of 8-0, filling in on short notice to face Mason Jones when Alan Patrick pulled out of their scheduled rematch.
Though Onama would lose the bout via unanimous decision, he showed an insane amount of raw talent and went the distance, arguably winning the fight in some people’s eyes.
Since then, the Ugandan talent has gone 2-0, returning to his natural division of 145 lbs where he first picked up a first round KO victory over Gabriel Benitez. He then submitted (arm-triangle choke) Garrett Armfield in round two earlier this month at UFC on ESPN 39, a rematch of their amateur days where he was also the victor, but via decision.
That win improved Onama’s record to 10-1, and he’s finished all ten of his wins with six knockouts and four submissions.
This is a big test for Onama, his second biggest test next to his UFC debut if you ask us.
Who comes out on top of this featherweight bout at UFC on ESPN 41?
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