Rivalries: Nate Landwehr

Finely tuned skills and an unquenchable competitive fire have allowed Nate Landwehr to carve out a niche for himself as something of an action hero in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.

The 36-year-old Tennessean will look to improve upon his 5-3 record inside the Octagon when he toes the line against Doo Ho Choi in a UFC 310 featherweight appetizer on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Landwehr enters the cage having won four of his past five bouts. He last saw action at UFC on ESPN 54, where he dismissed Jamall Emmers with punches in the first round of their March 30 pairing.

As Landwehr approaches his hotly anticipated clash with Choi at 145 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Khamzat Dalgiev

Landwehr laid claim to the M-1 Global featherweight championship in decisive fashion when he turned away the Gorets Fight Club rep with punches in the second round of their M-1 Challenge 95 main event on July 21, 2018 at The Mountain in Nazran, Russia. Dalgiev, who entered the match on the heels of 10 consecutive victories, checked out 4:35 into Round 2. It was far from smooth sailing for Landwehr. Dalgiev completed five takedowns against him, and while he managed to bleed time off the clock, his inability to exact a physical toll on the Tennessee native came back to bite him. Landwehr threatened with a guillotine choke late in the second round, withstood the Russian’s apparent attempts to gouge his face, powered into full mount and forced him to go belly down. Unanswered punches from both hands prompted the stoppage soon after.

Herbert Burns

The Kill Cliff Fight Club export wiped out Landwehr with a picture-perfect knee strike in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 166 featherweight prelim on Jan. 25, 2020 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. The curtain fell 2:43 into Round 1. Operating in the shadows of the Curtis Blaydes-Junior dos Santos headliner, Burns struck for a takedown and made a pass at a brabo choke before the two men returned to their feet and separated. Landwehr let his hands fly—he connected with two right uppercuts—but left himself exposed in the process. With his back to the fence, Burns countered with a close-range knee that flipped the switch, leveled the promotional newcomer and brought the crowd to life. The loss was Landwehr’s first in more than four years and closed the book on his career-best seven-fight winning streak.

Ludovit Klein

Landwehr disposed of the hard-nosed Slovakian with an anaconda choke in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 195 featherweight showcase on Oct. 16, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Klein tapped out 2:22 into Round 3, giving “The Train” the first submission win of his career. Klein was comfortable and effective in open space, especially in the first round. Landwehr crowded him in the clinch for much of the middle stanza, piling up points with punches and knees from close range. He then kept his foot in the accelerator in the third, where he pressed Klein backward with punches, snapped down on a front headlock and rolled into the anaconda choke. Landwehr tightened his squeeze on the Spartakus Fight Gym product to force the stoppage.

Dan Ige

Superior standup and bulletproof takedown defense carried the Hawaiian to a three-round unanimous decision over Landwehr in their UFC 289 featherweight attraction on June 10, 2023 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. Scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. Ige outstruck the former M-1 Global champion by narrow margins in all three rounds and stonewalled all four of his attempted takedowns. Landwehr more often than not seemed to be a move or two behind the 2017 Dana White’s Contender Series graduate, as he gradually lost ground on the scorecards. Ige connected with the most significant blow of the bout in the middle stanza, where he floored the MMA Masters export with a clean left and swarmed for a potential finish. While Landwehr survived, he appeared visibly dazed when he retreated to his corner between rounds. An efficient Ige maintained a steady pace across the final five minutes, steered clear of danger and let the judges do the rest.