MANCHESTER, England – Nathaniel Wood was able to bounce back from defeat despite being in a tumultuous time in his life.
The featherweight, who defeated Daniel Pineda by decision at UFC 304 on Saturday, opened up about some of the difficulties he experienced in the lead up to his return.
“Usually, I don’t sleep well on weight cut night anyway, and then (Friday) I think because I knew I was fighting late I started overthinking the sleep pattern thing and just could not sleep,” Wood told reporters at the UFC 304 post-fight press conference. “Then my daughter went to (the emergency room) and I was a bit stressed about that. It’s just one of those things where it’s one thing after another.
“But you know, I got the win, which is the main thing, and now I can do with some sleep.”
Wood (21-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) went on to open up about the heart issues his baby daughter is going through. She’s doing well at the moment and was at the emergency room just for preventive reasons, but may end up needing to undergo surgery in a few months.
“At first, she had a condition called CDH, which is when she was in my wife’s stomach – her liver, spleen and intestines were all up where her chest was, so her lungs didn’t grow properly,” Wood said. “So she was born and had to have an operation straight away, and then it all got fixed and in regular check-ups she’s got quite a large hole in her heart – and that’s the issue we’re dealing with.”
Hear Wood discuss his daughter’s health struggles, his win and more in the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
