Daniel Zellhuber Is Living His Best Life

“I don't need to be anybody else,” Zellhuber told UFC.com. “I don't need to go out there and trying to be like, ‘Oh, I'm so tough.’ That doesn't make sense. I'm a happy person, and I'm happy for the opportunity and doing all the interviews. I'm just trying to live my best life. I'm going to be nervous. I'm going to be excited. It's a bunch of different emotions but, most of all, I feel that I'm going to be happy.”

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Zellhuber believes he took a “grown” approach to his first career setback, and he showed as much in his sophomore appearance against all-action veteran Lando Vannata in Kansas City, Missouri. “Golden Boy” looked sharp and composed, outdueling Vannata before taking the unanimous decision nod from the judges. 

Also giving him confidence is his refined team, which includes coaches specializing in each aspect of mixed martial arts.  

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“I feel that it's hard to put everything together,” he said. “Right now, I have that, and I feel that I really have championship fight game material.”

While Giagos isn’t the most recognizable name to the casual fan, it’s a stiff test in Zellhuber’s third UFC appearance.

“The Spartan” has fought the who’s who at lightweight in two UFC stints that began in September 2018, including former champion Charles Oliveira and hot prospect Arman Tsarykyan. He is also coming off an impressive knockout victory over Ricky Glenn just five months ago.

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Zellhuber is enthusiastic about the challenge, though, especially because he gets to do so with what should be an incredibly friendly crowd in his corner celebrating Mexican Independence Day. He expects to feed off the fans’ energy and deliver something worth the booming cheers.

“I was born to fight for the public,” he said. “I remember my debut fighting in the (UFC APEX). It was kind of sad how you didn't have all this energy going out into the arena. Last time fighting in (Kansas City’s) T-Mobile Center, that was dope fighting in front of 17,000 people. That was crazy. I remember the energy when I started walking out and the people screaming. You can imagine the feeling. It's insane, and I understand that helped me a lot.”

Although this is just his third walk to the Octagon, Zellhuber hopes to gain some major hype from his efforts on September 16. The lightweight division is as difficult a gauntlet as any in the UFC, but he is confident people will start backing him soon. 

All that’s left to do is perform, and Zellhuber already understands the best thing he can do is stay true to himself. The rest takes care of itself. 

“I hope everybody is going to see the potential in me,” Zellhuber said. “I feel that with this win, I'm going to show everybody what level I am.”