“I’m always excited to go to my training every day, and I can see I’m better and better every day. I appreciate it that I can be here and train with best on the world.
“For sure I’m coming back for my next camps, but I don’t feel like moving over here,” he added with a laugh, answering the question asked of everyone that leaves home to compete their training camps, whether they’re traveling international or domestic. “I have my own Miami in Slovakia.”
This weekend’s matchup with Landwehr is one of those “funny how things work out” scenarios we’ve seen with greater frequency during this Pandemic Era in the UFC, where a competitor that got a short-notice opportunity because of another’s withdrawal ends up landing across the Octagon from that athlete soon after.
Landwehr being forced out of his bout with Young last fall opened the door for Klein to make his debut, and now, with both men coming off setbacks, they’re square off on Saturday.
Even before replacing him, the 27-year-old Slovak was familiar with Landwehr from his days competing under the M-1 banner, where he held the featherweight title and was discussed as a potential opponent for one of Klein’s teammates and training partners.
“I know he was a champ in M-1 Global because my teammate Ivan Buchinger was the former champ before him, and I know they were supposed to fight together in the past,” explained Klein. “He is tough fighter and I can’t wait to compare our skills in the cage.”
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Landwehr put himself on the UFC radar with a seven-fight winning streak that began with a victory over promotional veteran Diego Saraiva and culminated with a second successful defense of his M-1 Challenge title.
Since then, “Nate the Train” has showcased his unrelenting style inside the Octagon on three occasions, sandwiching a wildly entertaining unanimous decision win over Darren Elkins between first-round stoppage losses to Herbert Burns and Julian Erosa; his non-stop aggression endearing him to the UFC audience in just three appearances and less than four rounds worth of cage time.
