UFC News: Bantamweight fighter claims golden era of UK MMA will shine through at London event

UFC Bantamweight Nathaniel Wood feels that the golden era of British MMA has finally arrived and it will reflect when the UFC comes to London next year in the month of March.

As fans and media speculate on the headliners of the London card with names like Darren Till and Robert Whittaker doing the rounds, Wood himself hopes to coax Marlon Vera into agreeing to fight the former in front of his hometown crowd.

Speaking on MMA Fighting's Eurobash Podcast, Wood said that the MMA scene in England has come a long way and the perception of fighters from the UK has changed majorly in the past few years due to the rise of world-class talents such as Darren Till, Leon Edwards and Darren Stewart to name a few.

“At the moment, all the U.K. guys are on tear. Arnold Allen is 6-0 in the UFC, Darren Till just got that big win over Kelvin [Gastelum], so there’s a lot of momentum behind us. We already have the likes of Molly McCann, Darren Stewart and Leon Edward, but there are so many people now."

“Earlier, when all the other UFC fighters used to come to England, we didn’t do as well. People would come over and smash up the English guys. Now, I feel like people are going to be scared to come over and fight us. I don’t think they’ll want to with that crowd behind us as well. ”

Wood is of the view that the current generation along with the upcoming crop of fighters from the U.K. will bring about the proverbial 'Golden-era' for the region in the world of MMA.

“I definitely think [this is a golden era]. I’ve trained in a lot of places and with the team we’ve got now, I can assure you we’re not slacking on anything. Even the guys we have up and coming on our team now, they make me feel old. It’s scary to think how good they’ll be in a couple more years.”