Nathaniel Wood signs new 4-fight contract with UFC; confirms move to featherweight

Nathaniel Wood has announced that he has signed a new 4-fight contract with the UFC. The Englishman will move up to the featherweight division.

‘The Prospect’ posted on Twitter that he’s pleased to sign a new contract after 2 years full of setbacks. Wood believes that his move to the 145lbs division will be the start of something special. He also thanked his family, team, and friends for their support.

Nathaniel Wood posted a photo of himself signing a contract with the following caption attached to it:

“Pleased to sign another 4 fight deal with @ufc It’s been setback after setback the last 2 years but I’m confident everything happens for a reason and this year at 145lbs is going to be the start of something special. Thanks my team, family and friends for the continuous support.”

Former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Nathaniel Wood made his UFC debut back in 2018. On UFC Fight Night: Rivera vs. Moraes, he submitted Johnny Eduardo via a D’arce choke. He also won his next two fights against Andre Ewell and José Alberto Quiñónez. The winning streak came to an end at the hands of John Dodson at UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Błachowicz 2 which commenced the aforementioned setback.

Wood was originally scheduled to face Umar Nurmagomedov on July 26, 2020, at UFC on ESPN 14. However, Nurmagomedov withdrew from the bout due to his uncle Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov's passing. John Castañeda stepped in and lost to Wood via unanimous decision.

This was followed by Wood’s victory at UFC 254, where he defeated Casey Kenny via unanimous decision. The bad luck struck again as Wood had to withdraw from a fight against Jonathan Martinez. The fight was scheduled for September 4, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 191. In mid-August, ‘The Prospect’ was removed from the card for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Marcelo Rojo.

Nathaniel Wood was scheduled to make his return at UFC Fight Night 204 and take on Liudvik Sholinian. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sholinian was unable to leave the country. Vince Morales stepped in, but had to withdraw due to illness, leading to Wood being removed from the card again.

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Nathaniel Wood vs. Josh Reed: The most exciting 2 minutes in Cage Warriors history

A veteran of the British MMA scene, Wood was competing for a variety of regional promotions. He’s an UCMMA, BAMMA and Cage Warriors alumni.

Nathaniel Wood became the inaugural Cage Warriors bantamweight champion when he defeated Marko Kovacevic back in 2017.

However, his most well-known fight from that time took place at Cage Warriors 86 where Wood defended the title against Josh Reed.

Wood started off well by landing a few low leg kicks to Reed but later absorbed quite a few punches to his face. It was a wild exchange of strikes but Wood eventually got the TKO in the first round. The bout was cited as “the most exciting 2 minutes in Cage Warriors history.”

Next, Wood successfully defended the title against Luca Iovine at Cage Warriors 92. After that, he signed his first contract with the UFC.