Nathaniel Wood found himself a little conflicted over the course of 36 hours or so at UFC 321.
He made weight for his featherweight fight against Jose Delgado on the prelims at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. But Delgado came in a pound heavy, and that had Wood initially thinking the fight was a risk.
The reason, Wood (22-6 MMA, 10-3 UFC) said after he rallied to win a decision, was that Delgado (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) looked like he had the size to be fighting up a division.
Plus, he was mad.
“If I’m honest, there was (hesitation to take the fight), and the reason being, it was only a pound. But I looked at him and I thought, ‘Man, you’re one big featherweight. You should be fighting at lightweight.’
“I was a little bit pissed off: You’ve been in Abu Dhabi now for about two weeks. You shouldn’t be missing weight.”
Wood went into UFC 321 hoping he could get back to finishing opponents after nine straight decisions, in which he’s gone 7-2. But in the first round, he likely felt fortunate just to still be in the fight after Delgado put him on the canvas and beat him up.
Wood rallied in the second and third rounds, though, to take the decision. Plus, he was set to get 20 percent of Delgado’s fight purse – which he said he doesn’t want to accept because Delgado brought a Fight of the Night-worthy matchup.
“At the end of the day, (missing weight) happens. I’m not going to not fight because of a pound. My team and my cornermen came over to me and said, ‘Nath, it’s a pound. DOn’t worry about it. Don’t let it bother you,'” Wood said. “I’m a bit annoyed that his purse is nowhere near mine – 20 percent is nothing. But to be honest, I don’t want it.
“I’m going to say to whoever it is in the UFC, ‘Don’t give it to me.’ Because after the performance that we both put on, I think he deserves to keep his money. At the end of the day, he made a mistake. What’s a pound at the end of the day? Hopefully if he’s struggling to make featherweight, he’ll move up. I moved up – I’m a small featherweight, but you’ve got to put your health first.”
