Back in April, UFC featherweight David Onama achieved his fourth victory in the UFC by defeating Jonathan Pearce, who was once considered a featherweight prospect. On the UFC Vegas 91 Main Card, ‘The Silent Assassin’ had a fairly even fight against Jonathan Pearce, who saw more than half of his takedowns neutralized. By keeping the action on its feet, Onama proved to be a lethal striker in the Dana White-led promotion.

And now, UFC fans were truly excited to see promising prospect David Onama take on Lucas Almeida at UFC 309. Unfortunately, Almeida was forced off the card due to undisclosed reasons, leaving Onama without an opponent for the fight. However, Dana White wants the fighter to grace the Octagon in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd, so he is looking for a replacement to fill in. So while the UFC head honcho searches for a replacement fighter, we’ll look for all the details about David Onama’s life instead.

What flag does David Onama carry? What is his ethnicity and nationality?

David ‘Silent Assassin’ Onama hails from Kyangwali, Uganda, and identifies himself as a Ugandan. As a result, he often carries his country’s flag whenever he enters the Octagon. But do you know that he is the first fighter from Uganda to make it to the UFC? Well, he achieved the major feat in 2021 as he made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 196 against Mason Jones.

But while he couldn’t win his debut fight, he won his first match and became the first Ugandan fighter to win in the UFC by knocking out Gabriel Benítez in the very first round of his fight at UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev. Despite being punched in the eye by Benitez, Onama managed to finish the fight and take home the $50k bonus.

More about David Onama’s early life

David Onama came over to the United States with his family from Uganda at the age of 10. And despite his young age, he was dead set on becoming a fighter. Since childhood, his family and friends knew that Onama was going to become a fighter since he was hooked on watching UFC fights. Such was his craze that he even got into fights in his school. In an interview, he said, “I told myself the older I get, this is what I want to do. I want to try cage fighting, and from then on, it’s been a dream come true. Nobody’s really surprised—they knew what I wanted to do, what I wanted to become and I showed what I could do.” Well, he did achieve his dream, and now he is one of the best prospects in the UFC.

But while he is fulfilling his own dream, he also carries the dreams and hopes of many other Ugandans who wish to make it big in the UFC in the future.  After his win against Benitez, Onama revealed what it felt like to lead the way for his home country which he truly loves. He said in the post-fight interview, “I have the entire country behind me supporting me; you don’t know how much it means to me. I hope a lot of people from back home see that they can get to the UFC as well. I want to lead the way for them, and the love I have gotten from people from Uganda is surreal. They have messaged me like crazy since the win, showing me love and telling me I’m a role model to them and just keep doing what I do and representing my country and my people.”

Now, he will have a new task in hand as he faces a mystery opponent at UFC 309 if Dana White manages to find a replacement. However, this wouldn’t be new for the fighter since his debut match was a short-notice bout as well. But what do you think of David Onama? Do you think he has the capability to become a champion someday in the future? Let us know in the comments.