David Onama On Defeating Giga Chikadze At UFC Kansas City, Getting Ranked, Training With Youssef Zalal

Kicking back today with me I've got David Onama. David, congratulations, that was an excellent win! You just beat Giga Chikadze at UFC Kansas City. That was awesome.

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

I always like talking to you. And I actually got to see you a lot during this fight week, which was really cool. But first and foremost: how good do you feel having beaten Giga Chikadze, who is such a dangerous fighter?

Oh, man, it feels like a dream come true to me. I've been watching Giga for a very long time before I got into the UFC. I was a fan of his. It just means a lot to me. When I got the offer to fight Giga in my hometown of Kansas City it meant a lot to me. Fighting guys like him- he's a legend! I grew up watching him and just sharing the cage with him meant really a lot to me.

Obviously you knew you had to watch out for those kicks. Did you know strategically that takedowns and wrestling him was going to be a big part of the approach?

Yeah, the whole fight camp was to put the pressure on him and blend some wrestling in.I’ve been watching a lot of his tapes I know Giga’s style very well. He’s got the Giga Kick, so we try to avoid that. I was prepared for it, I knew what I was getting myself into in the fight… I was prepared for it, we had a good game plan for him.

How did you feel in terms of how the fight was playing out round by round? Did you feel like it had been going your way? Did you feel like it was close? Did you feel like in the third round you had to really do more to secure that win?

Yeah, first round I was kind of just trying to test him out a little bit, just to kind of feel him out. And I felt like I was kind of doing a lot of that and not doing me. I was kind of just waiting. And I felt like I definitely lost the first round for sure. And then second round, we had to make an adjustment. We had to put the pressure on him, and not just wait on him and feel him out. Second round we had to go. We had to win the second round. In the third round, because if we didn't win the second round it would have been probably two one or one to one, so we made an adjustment. Put the pressure on, go blend the striking in, blend the wrestling in… and that seemed like a smart approach.

When we were talking about your fight beforehand I think I said something like, “David has all this knockout power; but of course, you've got to get in there to be able to land that.” And with Giga and his kicks it can be hard to get in there. So you definitely did know that you were going to have to eat some stuff on the way in right?

Oh yeah, I definitely knew that. He threw a couple of those leg kicks, I ate a few. I'm like, “look, I just ate some. I cannot let this add up.” Because one and two and three and four is going to start adding up. So I started checking them, eating some shots but then I was firing after he kicked my body. Just like letting him know, you kick me, I'm going to have something in front of you. And it was hard through the whole fight camp because I had to fight southpaw. I went orthodox. He wanted me to go orthodox just so he can rip that liver kick. So I thought about it the entire time, you know? He's going to try to get to where he wants to so he can land. 

I want to ask you about training with Youssef Zalal. I love this kid. And he is such high energy, and you guys were so funny all week because you were kind of chill. And then you’ve got Youssef… which is so fun. How much has he helped you? He was in the UFC then he went away. Since he’s come back he's leveled up so much. That’s a probably a great person to have around; he’s a great training partner for you because you keep leveling up as well. That’s a great relationship, I was happy to see you guys together.

Just having Youssef Zalal in my corner, he helps me a lot throughout my whole fight camp. Even when I'm not in fight camp he's always helping me with game plans, how to win fights… So he means a lot to me, training with him has helped me out a lot. We're just trying to help each other improve and just get better.

Were you ranked once before or no?

No, I was never ranked. It's my first, first time ever getting ranked in the UFC. 

What did that mean to you to get that number?

It feels good. I had to put the work in to get the number in front of my name and be one of the best guys in the world. I had to work for it, and it finally happened. I always wanted to be ranked in the UFC because I always wanted to fight in the top ten. It took me two years to get the number beside my name, against guy like Giga, that's someone I grew up watching. Being able to beat him in my hometown… it was just crazy!

For those who don't know, you are originally from Uganda, but Kansas City is where you guys came, at age ten or so, right? I don't know if everybody appreciated the levels of what this victory meant for you. So what did it feel like to look out in the crowd and see a lot of your friends, family, and basically your hometown people rooting for you that night?

It's a dream come true to me to be able to be in the city where I started my career. I was twenty years old. It's just a dream come true to me having all my friends and my family out there coming for me. Meant so much to me. I'm still speechless. Being ranked in Kansas City, again, against guys like Giga, one of the best kickboxers in the UFC… Taking him out, taking his spot in front of my friends, my family… The fans! How do you handle that pressure? It was one of the hardest things I had to deal with, but I pulled through it.

You definitely pulled through it. And you have a good poker face; because seeing you during the week you didn’t look stressed. Or maybe it's just because Youssuf was doing all the yapping, and you had your other friend there too and you just couldn't get a word in. But you seemed very calm all week and you seemed pretty laid back. It didn't seem like your weight cut was too hard. You seemed peaceful when I saw you during fight week.

Yeah, I felt really good. I just felt I had the right people around me. You know, the energy was there, the vibe was there, having guys like Youssef Zalal, Chris Gutierrez was on that card. We had Isaac. Gauge Young was on that card. Just having my coaches, Thag, Mark and Cody. Everybody was there. So the energy was good. The vibe was good. For me, I was locked in, having a great time. I didn't want to think too much about the guy that I'm fighting, because he has a name for sure, but I didn't want to think so much. I just wanted to go in there and just think about who I'm fighting, who's in front of me, and not think so much and not be in a hole in my room just thinking about who I’m about to fight. I was just vibing, saying what's up to the UFC staff, you, of course. Everybody, even Heidi. Just having a good time talking to you guys. You know, it was awesome.

Well, so then with all that said, who do you want next? Now that you are in the rankings it's going to be one of those tough things because if they're ranked higher, they don't want to fight behind them when you're dangerous. And all you want to do is keep taking out the guys with the numbers ahead of you. So what's the plan, David? What you going to do?

I'm not so big on like calling people out: but guys that I see, I'll potentially be fighting eventually. I have some names that I really want to fight. I think it's a good matchup. It's a number above me, so that's the thing. I don't really care who they give next to me. High or low, it doesn't matter to me. I'm here to fight. I'm looking forward to what Sean Shelby gives me next.

Is there anything you did to celebrate? Is there a traditional Ugandan meal, or a Ugandan celebration? I don't know how much of that heritage and that culture is still alive in you every single day… What did you do to celebrate? And do you bring that culture with you?

After the win, I went back to the hotel and then I had an after party at Mosaic. So we spent all the time together. My family wants me to go back home. I’m back in Denver right now. I think Friday we’ll probably have a cookout, have the family together and have home home cooked meals.

Well congratulations to you. You've been winning fights and you're exciting. You can see your evolution from working with Marc Montoya. You can see every time your IQ getting better This time working in more wrestling… It's really cool watching you evolve and I'm just excited to see what comes next.

Thank you so much. It means a lot hearing that coming from you.Thank you so much.

All right, David. I'm sure I will see you soon. Thank you for kicking back with me today and congrats!

Thank you so much. Appreciate it for having me on here again.