LONDON – At long last, Nathaniel Wood gets to step back in the cage.
Wood hasn’t fought since an October 2020 decision loss to Casey Kenney at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi. The bout was a Fight of the Night winner, so Wood can take some solace in that. Nearly a year later, Wood was set to return, but had to pull out.
When he finally thought he was getting back to work in March at UFC Fight Night 204 in London in front of his home fans, Vince Morales got sick the day before weigh-ins and pulled out. Wood was left without a fight after weeks of preparation.
“I won’t lie: It was heartbreaking,” Wood said at a Wednesday pre-fight media day for UFC Fight Night 204, which takes place Saturday at The O2 in London. The card streams on ESPN+. “Obviously, I put a lot of time and effort into that camp and felt amazing. Obviously, I’d already been out for a very long time anyway. So for the fight to get pulled the day before the weigh-ins, it did suck. But it’s only made me more motivated now.”
Wood (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) takes on Charles Rosa (14-7 MMA, 5-7 UFC) in a featherweight bout on the preliminary card. Wood is the card’s biggest betting favorite with 6-1 odds at Tipico Sportsbook.
Given what he went through in March, thinking he was about to fight, but having the rug pulled out from under him, it’d be understandable if Wood was a little gun shy this week. But he thinks things should be fine with Rosa.
“Touch wood – I don’t want to jinx it,” Rosa said. “I’m not worried that anything is going to happen. Charles Rosa is a game opponent. He’s been around for a very long time. I can’t imagine anything is going to go wrong now.”
The only thing he thinks will go wrong is on Rosa’s end, considering he has to be on the other end of whatever Wood still is carrying from his disappointment in March, not to mention the pent-up emotions of not having a fight since October 2020.
“All the aggression I held I’ve held, maybe, in that last one, I get to release it Saturday night. I’d hate to be Charles right now,” Wood said.
Check out Wood’s full pre-fight interview in the video above.
