Nathaniel Wood picked up a win after a back-and-forth war with Andre ‘Touchy’ Fili. After the fight, he made his intentions to fight a ‘Legend’ clear.
Last night the UFC returned to the esteemed O2 arena in London for the 4th time in 18 months. One of the key moments was Wood keeping up his perfect start to life at Featherweight.
He faced off against veteran Fili and escaped adversity numerous times. Dropped in both round 1 and round 2, Wood survived before just about doing enough in round 3 to get the decision on all three judges’ scorecards.
Korean Zombie is currently scheduled to fight Max Holloway in August, whilst Barboza fought as recently as April.
Nathaniel Wood Talk About His Future Opponents
In his post-fight press conference, Wood was asked what named he’s eyeing to fight now he’s ranked: “I’d like to fight a Legend of the sport, and that would be like Edson Barboza, maybe in Brazil…”
Wood continued, “it would be an absolute honour, I’ve been a fan for years”.
Directly after this, Wood mentioned The Korean Zombie as another legend he wants to fight next, “for me someone like The Korean Zombie..that would be special”.
Wood reiterated the Legend stance, as he mentioned why wants to fight both the aforementioned fighters: “I’d like to get one of the legends before they [kinda] retire from the sport…Barboza is coming off a win so is still a dangerous opponent…for me it’s a fight I would like”
Wood Talks About His Consistency
When asked if his lack of consistent fights has taken an effect on him mentally, Wood responded: “The injuries are very draining, especially the last one. It wasn’t a real injury…I knew it would be better in 4 weeks, but it was five weeks out from a fight {vs Lerone Murphy}.”
He also put this all down to ‘God’s Plan’ and stated that ‘Everything happens for a reason.’
Wood has definitely made his impact on his new division, and maybe these fights are a real possibility after his clinic last night. Would you want to see these fights? Have you got any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments.
Who do you think Nathaniel Wood should face next? Let us know in the comments!
Video courtesy of MMA Junkie
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
