Following a loss in his UFC debut in November 2021, featherweight David Onama was able to rebound and pick up his first promotional win in his return bout on February 19 against Gabriel Benitez at UFC Fight Night.
For Onama, being able to pick up a first round TKO over Benitez was because he was able to have a little more time to prepare for the fight and apply the work he did in camp into the fight.
“We took this fight on three weeks’, two weeks’ notice this time; more time than ahead than the UFC debut, so it gave us more time to study him a little bit and get a game plan put together,” Onama told MMAWeekly.com.
“I feel like we did the right things in this fight. We figured him out when we watched the film, came up with a solid game plan and we got things done.”
Onama was able to go into his bout with Benitez without any baggage of his debut loss. Combine that with being able to move back down in weight, and Onama had the kind of performance he was capable of.
“I’m not really big on (bringing baggage into fights),” said Onama. “I just go in there and fight. I don’t think that I need a win, I need a win, I need a win, or things like that. I don’t want to think like that.
“I feel like that I’m back to my original weight, 145 pounds, that’s where I’m really good at and do my best at, and can go and show out and put on a good fight.”
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In addition to moving back down in weight, Onama feels like he’s been working on developing his overall game with an emphasis on his ground game in 2022.
“We’ve been working a lot on my wrestling this year,” Onama said. “I’m trying to become more well-rounded when it comes to the MMA game. Since my UFC debut I’ve been trying to pick up more on my grappling game than my striking.”
New into his UFC career, Onama is just interested in taking this as they come and move one step at a time in 2022.
“As of right now it’s just one fight at a time,” Onama said. “I’m still healing up and recovering a little bit. I’m trying to recover for now, then get back in the gym and start all over again. We’ll see what’s next from there, but for right now there’s no rush.”
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