UFC 304: Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda Fight Preview

The sixth Englishman to compete at UFC 304 will be featherweight Nathaniel Wood as he will highlight the featured preliminary bout against Daniel Pineda.

Both Wood and Pineda are veterans of the sport with ‘The Prospect’ being in the UFC since 2018 and his 38-year-old counterpart having two separate stints in the organization since 2o12 while also competing in Bellator and PFL. Previously known as a bantamweight, Wood moved up to the featherweight division in 2022 and will fight at 145 pounds for his fifth straight outing.

Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda: Tale of the Tape

Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda: Fight Statistics

View the statistics for each fighter as they appear on UFC Stats ahead of their main event meeting at UFC 304:

Nathaniel Wood’s Last Fight

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Rightfully representing his nickname ‘The Prospect,’ Wood has been considered a fighter on the rise for nearly his entire career. Though he has mostly been successful, Wood has often stumbled in big moments once he gains momentum, including his last loss to Muhammad Naimov at UFC 294. The loss ended a three-fight win streak for him and marked his first defeat since moving up to the featherweight division.

Even with the loss to Naimov, Wood owns monumental wins in the 145-pound division over Andre Fili and Charles Jourdain. Once the cage door closes at UFC 304, it will mark Wood’s fourth fight in England with the UFC and his first time competing in Manchester.

Daniel Pineda’s Last Time

Though he has bounced around as a journeyman during his 17-year career, Pineda had a shot to catapult himself up the featherweight rankings in his last fight but lost a decision to Alex Caceres at UFC Vegas 74. Now 2-2 with one no-contest in his second stint with the promotion, Pineda owns just one win over a fighter currently on the UFC roster. Even with his lack of consistent success, Pineda has been a name hardcore fans have kept an eye on due to his chaos-inducing fight style. In 46 professional fights, the Houston native has gone to a decision just six times — all losses — and has never won a fight by points.

Key Statistics

In many ways, this fight will be a clash of two differing styles. On paper, both Nathaniel Wood and Daniel Pineda are finishers who should not see the final horn. Pineda has been to a decision in just 13 percent of his professional fights and Wood has gone to the scorecards in just 32 percent of his contests. However, while Pineda is consistently a brawler, Wood has gone to a decision in six straight fights and has not won inside the distance since 2019.

As a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Pineda has been submitted a lot in his career but not since 2010 and has lost two of his last three defeats by knockout. Wood, however, has not won by knockout since 2018 in Cage Warriors. Both fighters have fought a similar amount in the UFC but Pineda owns a much shorter average fight time than Wood and has significantly less Octagon time.

When two styles clash such as this one, the fighter who implements their game plan first tends to see more success. Before entering the UFC, Wood had gone to a decision just twice through 16 fights, and perhaps being back in England will bring him back to his Cage Warriors days.

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