Another catchweight affair plays out as the prelims rattle on, with
“The Last Kingsman” Wood (21-6, 9-3 UFC) pocketing a fifth of
Delgado’s (10-1, 2-0 UFC) take-home, win or lose. The MMA Lab
prospect surrenders a solid chunk of change but hopes to make it
back by claiming his first post-fight bonus with a stoppage to
thereby keep his 100% finish rate intact. The athletes who meet now
at 147 pounds will draw the oversight of referee Jason Herzog, who
will keep things on the up-and-up as best he can. The competitors
touch ‘em up. Delgado starts off kicking aplenty, and Wood rings him up with a
right hand up top and a left down the middle. One of Delgado’s
kicks inadvertently bumps into the cup of his opponent as he goes
for an inside thigh, and Herzog sees it and gives him time to
recover. Wood takes 30 seconds before they resume, and Delgado goes
right back to kicking all targets. Wood chomps down on his
gumshield to slug it out, and Delgado meets him with big swings
until backing off to whip a kick to the body. Delgado nails Wood
with a front kick, and he races at the Brit with a blistering
flurry of punches. Wood is tough as nails but has the bridge of his
nose busted open, and Delgado fires at the spot with a head kick.
Wood recovers, and Delgado spins with destroys him with a spinning
back fist. Wood hits the deck in big trouble, and Delgado pounces
and starts smashing him with ground strikes. The punches continue
to mount as Wood’s face transforms into a crimson mask, and Wood
twists and turns and does enough to survive all while under fire.
When Wood leans himself against the wall, Delgado hacks at him with
elbows, and Wood is wearing it but fires back. Delgado decides against punching himself out, instead measuring his
strikes and working his way in behind a front kick and a right
hand. The MMA Lab product switches stances to further fluster Wood,
doing work with low kicks that try to set up his big left hand.
Delgado jams a knee to the chest, and Wood knocks him off his feet
with a counter right. Delgado springs back off his seat and backs
off, and Wood chases after him loaded for bear. Wood gets right in
front of him and knees him cleanly, and they bang it out as blood
sprays from Wood’s face. Delgado slips a right hand to work the
body, and they take it down a notch for a moment. Both men jab the
body, and Delgado follows one with a right hand and pulls back at
the last second from a head kick. Wood goes after his foe’s legs,
and the horn sounds with the athletes pump-faking. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Delgado Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Delgado Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Delgado

Action kicks right back off as the second round opens, with both
men offering whipping low kicks at one another. They turn their
hips into these powerful blows, and Delgado mixes things up with a
front kick square into Wood’s face. Wood keeps his guard up,
managing to block the subsequent high kick, but the impact still
shakes him a little. Wood walks right into a right hand and a knee,
and he adjusts his nose and keeps powering forward behind a jab.
Wood snaps out a right hand and a low kick, and he sneaks in a
short left. They crash together, but abandon it before trying for a
takedown. Wood pushes forward to bully Delgado against the fencing,
forcing Delgado to turn against the wall so he can trip him up. Delgado bounces off the floor and manages to get out of the tie-up,
pushing through a sharp jab to put hands on the Brit’s face.
Delgado fires off another low kick, and it too strikes Wood’s cup
for his second groin kick foul. Herzog tells that that it may have
been an accident, but it’s two now. They resume after 45 seconds of
a break, with Herzog telling Delgado to watch his weapons. Wood
flashes his jab immediately, and he scoops a left hand around the
top. Wood smiles as he engages, perhaps growing in confidence if he
feels Delgado’s power is starting to trickle down. Delgado still
connects cleanly on Wood’s mug, but Wood is able to stand in the
pocket and trade with him power for power. Wood dings Delgado with
a right hand and jabs him with a front kick, ignoring the clean
blows landing from Delgado so he can pressure him to the fence.
Delgado resets and absorbs a chopping low kick, and he looks for
distant shots to punctuate the round. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Wood Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Wood Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Wood

Delgado comes out of his corner firing, with scores possibly tied
or him up two rounds to zip. Wood keeps a safe distance while
hacking at Delgado’s lead legs, and he has his guard up to defend a
high kick. Delgado splits the guard with his jab, striking Wood in
the jaw with a follow-up right. Wood dances back and walks through
a right hand to get in Delgado’s face. Wood kicks and is about to
set up power, only for Delgado to beat him to the punch and keep
him at bay. Delgado doubles up on front kicks to the body, and he
narrowly evades a left hook. Delgado goes to the body and head, and
Wood counters with a thudding left hand on the chin. Delgado leaves
himself open on the way back and scores another, and he is putting
everything behind his attacks. Even a head kick from Delgado hits
Wood about as hard as he can offer it, and the Brit tanks it and
presses ever onward. Delgado dips and drills Wood with a left hook, and Wood offers back
power jabs that draw out a shot from the MMA Lab fighter. Delgado
stands up and aims for a spinning elbow, and he ducks down and
scoops Wood off his feet. Delgado aims a hacking elbow when Wood
stands, and he pops Wood in the chops with an uppercut on the way
back. Wood marches towards him, jab outstretched, and Delgado leaps
at him with an effective body kick. Wood forces Delgado to twirl
around with a low kick, and Delgado whiffs on a high kick but gets
a knee in. Wood stands firm and fires back with two hooks, and
Delgado’s knee opens him up to getting taken down. Delgado grabs a
kimura for a sweep, and as time expires, Wood helps his now former
foe to his feet. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Delgado (29-28 Delgado) Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Delgado (29-28 Delgado) Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Delgado (29-28 Delgado)

A protégé of Gilbert Melendez, Amil (11-0, 3-0 UFC) is hoping to
represent the former Strikeforce champ well as he battles a man who
has never won a fight on the scorecards. MMA Lab’s Delgado (9-1,
1-0 UFC) would love nothing more than to secure his sophomore UFC
effort similar to his first, as he needed three minutes to demolish
Connor Matthews in February. Referee Marc Goddard will keep tabs on
this featherweight contest for as long as it lasts, and he steps
back as the fighter clap hands. Amil immediately tosses out a low kick after the glove touch. He
throws another, leading Delgado to try to the fight down. The two
scramble wildly when Amil counter-throws his foe to the mat, and
they both explode back to their feet. Delgado surges forward behind a three-punch salvo, and he looks to
drive a knee straight through Amil’s head. Taking it square on the
chin, Amil crashes to the ground in big trouble, and Delgado
follows him and obliterates him with a bomb of a left hand and two
crushing elbows. Amil goes out and comes back online, and Goddard
steps in to stop the fight. Amil is upset and stands
right back up, but he is a little wobbled and confused. He has to
be held up by Goddard and explained what happened to him. The
previously undefeated fighter is crestfallen but calms himself
down, while Delgado is on the map with a sub-30-second knockout
over a man 11-0 mere moments before. In the throes of victory,
Delgado calls for a fight against William Gomis at Noche UFC in
September.

Barring something unusual, the winner of this featherweight pairing
will claim their first victory in the Octagon. Matthews (7-2, 0-1
UFC) had one bite at the apple last March, only to get punched out
by Dennis Buzukja. Delgado (8-1, 0-0 UFC), a 2024 Contender Series
pickup, means to show he can still get the job done in the major
leagues by knockout or submission—as he maintains an even
distribution of stoppages due to strike as he does to sub. The
curtains are drawn and referee Dan Miragliotta is standing by. The
145ers get down to business with a clap of hands, and Delgado
starts things off with three kicks. The third kick gets countered
by a booming right hand, and Delgado decides to load up on his own
power punch on the comeback. Matthews chases after his adversary,
leading with his chin first and not the highest of guards. As
Delgado sets up some offense, Matthews zips past a strike and
wrenches Delgado down to the floor. When Delgado stands up,
Matthews hits a clean mat return while getting a hook in. Delgado
works his way out before finding himself in submission danger, and
he keeps his hands high on the way out to defend against a head
kick. When Matthews charges at him with his own head kick, Delgado
spins with a back fist that smashes the Massachusetts native in the
face. Matthews takes it shockingly well and keeps coming forward, but
Delgado winds up and drills “The Controller” in the jaw with a
devastating right hand. Matthews rolls to hit the ground on his
back, and Delgado leaps into full mount to pound him out. Delgado
keeps hammering on the doomed Matthews, slipping punches through
the wavering guard until the lights of Matthews go
out. Miragliotta sees that Matthews has had his
consciousness deprived and he steps in. That keeps the newcomer
with a 100% finish rate, getting the job done in his debut in a
little under three minutes.

Jose Delgado

Fight History

Fighter Skills Radar

Key Insights

Striking Profile

Key Insights

Grappling Profile

Key Insights

Conclusions Summary