London — Featherweight Nathaniel Wood is the British side of the England versus France battle that features on the UFC London main card this Saturday.
Wood is paired up with French fighter Morgan Charrière, and admitted this week that he has a “luxury advantage” given he lives just 40 minutes from the O2 Arena, where the Fight Night event will play out.
As far as summing up “The Last Pirate,” “I’ve not got a bad word to say about him,” Wood stated during this week’s UFC London media day, speaking with publications including Cageside Press. “We’ve got each other on Instagram. I like the guy. I feel like he’s very similar to me in the sense where, if you look at him I would say a striker, but he’s also got very high level grappling. He’s 29 years old, I’m 31. He’s got 20 wins, I’ve got 20 wins. Cage Warriors champion, Cage Warriors champion. It’s very similar. I feel like maybe I’m fighting someone that’s on the same sort of journey as me.”
Wood, who fought as a bantamweight until 2020, sees a couple of advantages he has over his French counterpart. “Going up a weight, I’m at a disadvantage in the strength, but I’m an advantage in the speed,” he noted. “So if I fight my fight how I’m supposed to, I think I’m going be too quick for him. And I don’t know what his mindset is like, but my mindset is bullet proof right now, especially fighting in London as well.”
“So those are the two biggest advantages that I would say I’ve got in my arsenal, but that’s not an insult to him, because I’m sure he’s very motivated as well,” continued Wood. “But I know that my mindset right now is in a good place to fight.”
Wood will have a little something extra to fight for this Saturday at UFC London, as he and his wife are now expecting their second child. “It’s a real eye-opener now. I’ve got a child already, now I’ve got another one on the way. If you said this to me a couple of years ago, I would have thought you were crazy.” His second daughter is due later this year. “I’m buzzing. To me, my mission in life now is to just bring my kids up to be the best people I can. I still want to be UFC champion of the world, but that’s not my first and foremost goal anymore. My life has kind of changed, and changed for the better.”
Watch the full UFC London media day appearance by Nathaniel Wood above.
