Nathaniel Wood was going to face Lerone Murphy at UFC 286. However, the English featherweight pulled out due to a scary injury he suffered.
Wood posted the images to his social media with the caption: “Can’t catch a break in this game. 😔”
The graphic images show that his leg is stitched up and he’s standing with the help of crutches.
He suggested he can’t bend his knee until the stitches are removed. He posted the following caption:
“It is with a heavy heart to announce I will no longer be fighting in London. It seems I just can’t get a break in this game with constant setbacks. A freak accident landing on wooden trim in wrestling practice.
Sorry for all those who were coming to see me. Going to have a sit down and think about some things. The highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. Unfortunately I cannot bend my knee until these stitches are out.
As always a huge thank you to my team, sponsors, family and supporters. ❤️ ❤️”
The Prospect explained the situation a bit more on Twitter: “For those asking I unfortunately sliced my knee on some wooden trim on the outside of the mats going for a takedown.”
Wood later shared posted a video of the incident, captioned:
“That takedown attempt cost me a fortune. 😔”
The clip shows him slicing his leg on the wood around the mat after a takedown attempt.
Wood, 29, has had an unlucky tenure at the UFC. He made his debut back in 2018 and went on a three-fight winning streak. He then fought thrice in 2020 and won just one of his outings.
After this, he missed out on almost two years of action due to his fights getting canceled for a variety of reasons.
He’d then move up from bantamweight to featherweight and return to the octagon last year. He then picked up unanimous decision wins over Charles Rosa and Charles Jourdain.
With this injury, it looks like he’ll be having a rough year ahead of him.