I’m a genius in my own mind because I knew a long time ago what a bad motherfucker Nate “The Train” Landwehr was. Nate had an upcoming fight at XFC 26 in 2013 when I got to spend a couple days documenting his training regimen. Holy shit. It was some real life Rocky shit. If you don’t believe me watch this and this.

At that time Nate was only 25 years-old and living and training in Clarksville, Tenn. He was a dog on the regional circuit and known for his toughness and willingness to go toe to toe with anyone. He always had impeccable cardio, always came forward, pushed the pace, and wasn’t worried about taking one to give one or two or three or four.

Since expanding his training to Miami’s MMA Masters last year, Landwehr has shown notable improvement with head movement, striking acumen, and jiu-jitsu. And you can bet after all the hype surrounding his last performance he’s going to be fine-tuning a seemingly already fine-tuned machine.

On Aug. 13, due to some last minute changes to the card, Nate and his opponent David Onama fought in the co-main event live on ESPN at UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego. It was then that the MMA world as a whole came to understand what Nate “The Train” fans have known for years. The guy was born for this.

Landwehr came back from some early adversity against Onama to put on a show of epic proportions. It was a back and forth brawl that allowed Nate to show the world exactly what he was made of and why he was signed to the UFC in the first place.

And then they gave him the mic.

To no one’s surprise Landwehr and Onama received “Fight of the Night” honors. That’s some nice bonus money for Landwehr who was coming off “Performance of the Night” honors (and bonus money) in his last outing.

In Oct. 2021 Landwehr scored the first submission win of his career against L’dovit Klein with an anaconda choke in the third round at UFC Fight Night 195. It was a surprise to longtime Landwehr fans because they were so used to seeing him slug it out. A danger on the ground, a danger standing, and a danger on the mic? What’s not to love?

The sports books had Landwehr as a sizable underdog in his last two fights. Against Onama, Landwehr was a +255 underdog when I placed a $50 bet on FanDuel. I live in Colorado where sports betting is legal. Placing bets on an app like FanDuel makes it super easy!

I was pretty surprised after Landwehr’s submission win over Klein last year that the sports books were once again underestimating him. I’m definitely not a big gambler but it wasn’t a hard decision to put my money on Landwehr again with such a nice potential payout.

I had put money on Landwehr against Klein and won and I had a repeat performance when he beat Onama. We’ll see who he gets matched up against next but you know everyone is going to be paying attention now.

Fighters want an exciting opponent because it can create a memorable fight and increase their exposure and ultimately their paycheck. Right now in the UFC it’s hard to imagine who has more excitement surrounding them than Nate “The Train” Landwehr. Last fight he was co-main event and rose to the occasion in spectacular fashion. Can you even fathom what could happen when they finally book him as the main event?

Get ready.