Nate Richardson was born in Monrovia, Liberia in 1990, but moved to the USA in 2000 when his family fled their war-torn homeland in search of a safer life.

From 1989 to 1996 Liberia was in the grip of what has been described as “one of Africa’s most bloody civil wars”, one which killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions more and created a generation of orphans.

A temporary peace was shattered with the onset of new hostilities in 1999; at that point Richardson’s mother - now on her own with her children - made their way out of Liberia, arriving first in the Ivory Coast and then making their way to America.

“My early life was a grind,” says Richardson with some understatement. “We fled civil war in Liberia, our family was separated. 

“I was very young at the time and my mom tells me of how we were basically dodging bullets. We escaped to the Ivory Coast where I learned a little French before finally moving to the USA. 

“Martial arts taught me about defending myself. Now, I am trying to make a better life for myself and to support my mother.”

Richardson now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he trains and fights out of The Cellar Gym under Chris Cichon. In August 2017, he signed to GLORY and rode a five-fight win streak into the organization, with three of those wins coming inside the distance.