If Nathaniel Wood wants to do more than merely tread water in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, he will need to return to the consistency that once made him one of the sport’s most promising young talents.
As Wood makes final preparations for his upcoming clash with Jourdain, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. His hometown sits not far from Buckingham Palace.
Wood was born on Aug. 5, 1993 in Carshalton, England—a town of 30,000 people situated roughly 10 miles to the southwest of London. He shares a birthplace with three founding members of the British rock band Mud: Rob Davis, Les Gray and Dave Mount.
2. On-the-job training was a reality.
“The Prospect” made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 18 when he put away James Humphries with punches in the second round of their confrontation under the Fusion Fighting Championship banner in February 2012. Wood went on to post a 3-0 record as a teenager, establishing himself as a talent to watch on the European circuit.
3. He climbed to the top of the regional ladder.
The 29-year-old Englishman captured the vacant Cage Warriors Fighting Championship bantamweight title when he punched out Marko Kovacevic in the first round of their CWFC 84 headliner on June 2, 2017. Wood successfully retained the championship on two subsequent occasions—he finished both Josh Reed and Luca Iovine inside one round—before vacating the throne to sign with the UFC. Wood remains one of only seven men who have struck Cage Warriors gold at 135 pounds, along with Paul McVeigh, Brett Johns, Toni Tauru, Jack Shore, Jack Cartwright and Dominique Wooding.
4. A proven commodity teaches him the ropes.
Wood operates out of Great Britain Top Team in London, where he continues to hone his craft under longtime mentor Brad Pickett—a retired UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting veteran who holds victories against Demetrious Johnson, Ivan Menjivar and Mike Easton, among others.
5. His legs are not yet fully stretched.
Only five of Wood’s 23 career bouts have taken place outside the United Kingdom. He has made three appearances in the United States and two others in the United Arab Emirates.