Per source, I can confirm that Nathaniel
Wood will face Charles Rosa at the upcoming UFC London card on July
23. “The Prospect” is moving up to featherweight for the
occasion.First reported by @phre pic.twitter.com/RGfOC3G3mq
— Tudor Leonte (@MrTudorLeonte)
June 16, 2022
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A talented Ultimate Fighting Championship prospect is
doing anything he can to get on the upcoming card in his home
city.
For the past few weeks, UFC bantamweight Nathaniel
Wood (17-5) had been rumored to be competing at
UFC Fight Night 208 on July 23. Wood’s appearance at the O2
Arena in London was dependent on him getting an opponent, as
fighters like Kamuela
Kirk or Vince
Morales had been lauded as possible foes. Instead, Wood will be
moving up to 145 pounds, where he will take on grappling specialist
Charles
Rosa (14-7). The news was first broken by reporter Al Zullino, and Sherdog has
confirmed this matchup with sources close to the situation.
Wood will be making his debut at featherweight, although his last
fight came in a 140-pound catchweight against Casey
Kenney in October 2020. A slew of unexpected withdrawals for
both he and his opponents following the “Fight of the
Night”-winning scrap with Kenney have kept Wood on the shelf since
that bout. “The Prospect” burst on to the scene thanks to five
straight stoppages under the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and
Bellator MMA banners, and he followed those
victories with three straight submissions in the Octagon. Since
then, he has fallen short twice while winning against John
Castaneda, and he will be looking to get back in the win
column.
“Boston Strong” Rosa recently stepped into a cage in Titan Fighting Championships, but not for an
MMA match. Rosa and Julio
Cesar Chaves grappled for 15 minutes, ultimately reaching a
draw due to the time limit. His last MMA fight came in January,
where he fell to T.J. Brown to
go on the first losing streak of his career. The second defeat in
two tries – the first came against Damon
Jackson in October 2021 – also ended a remarkable stretch where
Rosa neither won nor lost consecutive bouts for 11 UFC tilts in a
row.
UFC Fight Night 208, also known as UFC London, will go down at the
O2 Arena in London on July 23. Heavyweights will serve in the main
attraction as vaunted wrestler Curtis
Blaydes looks to stave off surging contender Tom
Aspinall. The co-headlining assignment will go to Jack
Hermansson vs. Darren Till
at middleweight, while other fights on the main card include
Paddy
Pimblett vs. Jordan
Leavitt at lightweight, a light heavyweight scrap between
Paul
Craig and Volkan
Oezdemir, and another battle at 205 pounds between Nikita
Krylov and Alexander
Gustafsson.