John Dodson had no intention of serving as a steppingstone for Nathaniel Wood.
Dodson halted the eight-fight winning streak of the Englishman known as “The Prospect,” winning via third-round technical knockout in a preliminary bantamweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 167 in Rio Rancho, N.M., on Saturday.
“The Ultimate Fighter 14” winner entered the contest having lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, and he had an inkling the promotion was looking to build upon Wood’s momentum.
“Feels amazing to get back into the win column. It wasn’t easy. Nathaniel Wood is a tough opponent and I want to make sure I continue trashing these young opponents that they are giving me,” Dodson said. “I keep giving them the wins and then they are getting the title contention spots and now I want the same thing for myself. This win builds me back up.
“They keep giving me these tough opponents. When I lost to Marlon Moraes, they started boosting him up. When I lost to Petr Yan, they started boosting him up. I knew they wanted to do the same thing with Wood.”
After two closely-contested rounds, Dodson clipped Wood with a counter left hook and finished his foe with follow-up strikes on the canvas 16 seconds into Round 3. It was Dodson’s first KO/TKO finish since 2016.
“This gives me the confidence to say I’m still in this and they want to give me a title ,which is why they keep throwing these young guns at me,” Dodson said. “I’m going to keep punishing them every single time.”
Saturday was also the second time Dodson, a New Mexico native, was able to compete on home soil. When the Las Vegas-based promotion made its debut in the Land of Enchantment in June 2014, he emerged with a second-round stoppage of John Moraga at UFC Fight Night 42. It’s safe to say fighting on familiar ground has been good for “The Magician.”
“Competing here at home gave me the extra boost I needed. I had my family and friends out here and I kept seeing them out in the crowd, I couldn’t let them down,” he said. “For 2020, it looks like I’m going to keep getting some tough opponents and I’m going to keep knocking them out.”