Nathaniel Wooden admires the male he hopes to dethrone a single day.
‘The Prospect’ has received 3 consecutive fights because making the go to featherweight very last calendar year and is hoping to keep on his outstanding streak at UFC 294 on Saturday night time.
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A win above Muhammad Naimov will shift him 1 action closer to the 145lb rankings and a shot at the division’s very long-time king, Alexander Volkanovski, who headlines together with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev this weekend.
Wooden stands at 5ft 6in and is just one of the smaller UFC featherweights.
Nevertheless, he feels confident that his sizing will not prevent him from getting a champion after viewing Volkanovski, who is the similar peak, dominate greater opponents for decades.
“Definitely,” Wooden told talKSPORT.com when questioned if he will take inspiration from Volkanovski’s potential to reign over the featherweight division even with his brief stature.
“It’s virtually like a person is backing what I am expressing. I’m striving to say to folks, ‘Look, men, it is not all about the pounds.’
“Of system, fat is one particular gain you can seem at, but straight absent if you are a good deal heavier than the other male, you are not likely to be more quickly than him.
“It is like declaring it is really an benefit to be more powerful, but it is not an edge to be to be more quickly.
“My fight camp has all been about my opponent and getting the appropriate instruction in. [Naimov’s] has most likely been about reducing body weight and getting on them scales.
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“Whatever way you appear at it, there is execs and negatives, but all I know is my strategy is good ample to handle an individual if they’ve acquired a couple of kilos on me.
“I get to take pleasure in my lifestyle in the outdoors and consume and be balanced.
“It’s nice to see somebody like Volkanovski, who as far as I am anxious is the pound-for-pound selection a single in the planet at the minute, that he thinks the similar.
“He’s going up a excess weight and believes he can do it. So, it goes to clearly show that it’s not all about bodyweight.”
Wood was a single of the several people today who assumed Volkanovski did ample to beat Makhachev when they initially fought at UFC 284 in February – even however he endured a unanimous decision defeat.
The 30-year-previous is backing him to get an official victory more than Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé soon after stepping in on brief detect to substitute the wounded Charles Oliveira at UFC 294.
Wood mentioned: “I sort of gave him the 1st a single.
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“Whether that was mainly because every person sort of experienced him getting rid of ahead of the fight and he did so well…
“I consider he’s match. Occur on Volk! I imagine he’s heading to do it.”