The first thing Nathaniel Wood mentions when he sits down for his interview is his two daughters.
Wood beams when he reveals that Arla, aged one, and Layla, who is just over two months old, have joined him in Abu Dhabi.
The 32-year-old Londoner has brought his family, including his wife, mum and dad, over for his fight against Jose Delgado at UFC 321.
For Wood, having his family with him is vital for getting in the right head space before a fight because things have gone wrong previously without them.
“If I’m not with them, I’m thinking about home. I’m looking at my phone every two seconds wondering what’s going on,” Wood tells BBC Sport.
“Having them here means that I can focus on the job at hand. I’m so much more relaxed.”
With his family nearby, Wood is at ease, offering a smile as he shakes hands before answering BBC Sport’s questions with conviction.
But it has not always been like this for him in Abu Dhabi.
Last time Wood was here, before the birth of his daughters in 2023, he was beaten by Muhammad Naimov following struggles with his mental health.
Wood has anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) – a mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours., external
“It comes in waves. Sometimes you can be absolutely fine and then you could have what I call a ‘dark cloud day’ where you’re just anxious and obsess over things,” says Wood.
“Unfortunately my time came on fight week. As I flew out, I was suffering with really bad anxiety.
“When I have OCD, it doesn’t let me move on. So the whole week I didn’t care about the fight. I was just thinking about stuff I didn’t need to be thinking about and obsessing over it.
“It’s very consuming. It’s like every second of that day you’re thinking about that thought, nothing else. I could be talking to you right now and I’m thinking about something else.”
Wood says a “number of factors” contributed to defeat by Naimov, but he didn’t perform the way he wanted to because of his OCD.
