Nathaniel Wood

Nathaniel Wood (born August 5, 1993) is an English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

A professional competitor since 2012, he formerly competed for Cage Warriors, where he was the Bantamweight Champion.

Growing up playing football, Wood followed his father to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practice at the age of 16.

He attended college for carpentry for a spell, but dropped out in order to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Wood made his professional debut against James Humphries at Fusion Fighting Championship: Breakthrough on February 18, 2012.

He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.

He went on to amass a 9–3 record, before signing with Cage Warriors.

Wood was scheduled to make his Cage Warriors debut against Vaughan Lee at CWFC 82 on April 1, 2017.

They were originally scheduled to meet at CWFC 80, before the fight was postponed due to an anomaly found on Wood's brain in a pre-fight scan.

Wood staggered Lee near the beginning of the second round, and pursued him for the remainder of the fight, knocking him out with a right straight at the 4:22 minute mark.

Following his dominant victory against Lee, Wood was scheduled to fight Marko Kovacevic for the vacant Cage Warriors Bantamweight Championship at CWFC 84 on June 2, 2017.

Wood won the fight by a first-round technical knockout, after weathering some early counter right hands by Kovacic.

Wood was scheduled to make his first title defense against Josh Reed at CWFC 86 on September 17, 2017.

Reed dominated the champion for the duration of the short-lived bout, surging forward with power shots and managing to drop Wood with a combination of punches.

Wood however managed to stagger back to his feet and counter the onrushing Reed with a counter left, winning the fight by a first-round knockout.

Wood made his second and final title defense against Luca Iovine at CWFC 92 on March 24, 2018.

Wood made quick work of the challenger, knocking him out with a left hook after just 50 seconds.

It was announced on April 5, 2018, that Wood had signed with the UFC.

Wood made his promotional debut against Johnny Eduardo on 1 June 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Rivera vs. Moraes.

He won the fight via submission in Round 2, for which he was awarded with a Performance of the Night bonus.

Wood was originally scheduled to face Tom Duquesnoy on 29 December 2018 at UFC 232.

However, Dusquenoy pulled out due to an injury and was replaced by Andre Ewell.

He won the bout via submission in the third round.

Wood faced José Alberto Quiñónez on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal.

He won the fight via a submission in round two.

Wood faced John Dodson on 15 February 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Błachowicz 2.

He lost the fight via TKO in round three.

Wood was scheduled to face Umar Nurmagomedov on 26 July 2020 at UFC on ESPN 14.

However, Nurmagomedov withdrew from the bout due to his uncle Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov's passing He was replaced by promotional newcomer John Castañeda.

Wood won the fight via unanimous decision.

Wood faced Casey Kenney on 24 October 2020 at UFC 254.

He lost the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.

This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.

Wood was scheduled to face Jonathan Martinez on 4 September 2021 at UFC Fight Night 191.

However, Wood was removed from the bout in mid-August for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Marcelo Rojo.

Wood was scheduled to face Liudvik Sholinian on 19 March 2022 at UFC Fight Night 204.

However due to the War in Ukraine, Sholinian was unable to leave the country or train so he was replaced by Vince Morales.

In turn, just days before the event, Morales withdrew due to illness, and the pair will be rescheduled for future event.

In his debut at featherweight, Wood faced Charles Rosa on 23 July 2022 at UFC Fight Night 208.

He won the fight by unanimous decision.