Preview: UFC London ‘Edwards vs. Brady’

Featherweights

Nathaniel Wood (20-6) vs. Morgan Charriere (20-10-1)
Odds: Charriere (-162), Wood (+136)

A well-matched fight pairs off two featherweights each looking to make their major run. Wood's 2022 fight against Charles Rosa marked his move up from bantamweight to featherweight, which was an interesting gambit for "The Prospect." Wood had impressed at 135 pounds, showing off the expectedly effective well-rounded game that made him someone to watch on the regional scene, but the Englishman's forward-focused style led to him getting out-quicked and outpaced in a few frustrating losses, along with him generally eating more damage than he needed to even in his wins. Even with those issues, a move up to featherweight appeared risky given that Wood was going to be undersized in his new weight class while also not reading as particularly speedy; and while that might still be true on both counts, he's still managed to find his way to a ton of success. Wood's been both durable and stronger than expected, allowing him to keep applying the pressure-heavy game that worked at bantamweight, with one glaring exception; his 2023 loss to Muhammad Naimov -- Wood's lone defeat in five fights since his featherweight move -- was a grimy affair where Naimov, one of the UFC's bulkier featherweights, finally made Wood's lack of size into an issue. After a rebound win over Daniel Pineda in his lone bout of 2024, Wood looks to get some momentum going against France's Charriere.

Charriere's one of the more popular fighters in his native country, which made him an obvious signing for the UFC as they focused on the French market, and the hope was that "The Last Pirate" was hitting the big time at just the right moment to become a contender. A professional going back to 2014 but still on the right side of 30, Charriere's an electric athlete that seemingly got all of his lumps out of the way early, and his two wins in the UFC have been clear highlights, as he's put together brutal knockouts of Manolo Zecchini and Gabriel Miranda. But Charriere's loss in between those fights highlighted the main concern about the Frenchman's game; for all his dynamism, Charriere can be a slow-paced fighter that's overly choosy in his spots, which allowed Jose Mariscal to win a wrestling-heavy affair -- albeit one that Charriere easily still could've won on the scorecards. That's the risk here, as Wood's clearly the more volume-focused fighter; but from the Englishman's side, there is the worry that even if he can put together a few minutes of good work each round, Charriere could outweigh that with one or two huge moments of offense as Wood gets too aggressive. That's the lean here, as Charriere looks to be the best featherweight athlete that Wood has faced to date; it's not a confident call, but the pick is Charriere via decision.

Jump To »
Edwards vs. Brady
Blachowicz vs. Ulberg
Nelson vs. Holland
McCann vs. Thainara
Vucenic vs. Duncan
Wood vs. Charriere
The Prelims