Nathaniel Wood announces ‘end of a chapter for now’ at bantamweight, move to 145

Nathaniel Wood’s next fight will not be in the bantamweight division.

Wood revealed that he is closing the book on his 135-pound career — at least for the time being — and will be making the move to the UFC’s featherweight division. “The Prospect” made the announcement on Thursday via his Instagram page.

“That’s the end of a chapter for now, myself and the team have made the decision to move up and compete at [145 pounds]. I’m excited and motivated more than ever to go in there powerful, fueled and happy,” Wood stated.

The former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion hasn’t competed since October 2020 where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Casey Kenney at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi. Wood was slated to face Jonathan Martinez in September 2021 but was forced to withdraw from the matchup.

Wood was then slated to compete at the memorable UFC London earlier this month. His originally scheduled opponent Liudvik Sholinian withdrew from the bout to take the front lines in his home country of Ukraine during this invasion by Russia. Vince Morales was tapped to face Wood at the O2 Arena but after arriving in the U.K., Morales fell ill and was forced out of the bout.

The 28-year-old is 4-2 through his first six octagon appearances, which includes stoppage wins over Andre Ewell, Jose Quinones, and Johnny Eduardo.