Individual sports often fail to highlight the team effort behind each athlete, and MMA is no exception.
When fighters raise their hands in the cage, they get most of the glory, and rightfully so. But there’s also a huge effort behind the scenes, including sparring partners, nutritionists, psychologists and, perhaps most importantly, coaches. This year, Syndicate MMA Las Vegas owner and head coach John Wood is the force behind MMA Junkie’s 2025 Fighter of the Year, Merab Dvalishvili, as well as many other outstanding performances.
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Wood is a veteran coach who helped transform Dvalishvili from an unlikely champion (at least according to odds and popular opinion) to one of the most dominant champions in UFC bantamweight history.
Dvalishvili entered UFC 311 in January as the underdog to challenger Umar Nurmagomedov. Yet, against all odds, Dvalishvili defeated Nurmagomedov in 25 minutes, announcing to the world that he was here to stay, and winning the Fight of the Night award in the process.
Wood’s work didn’t stop there. Dvalishvili wants nothing to do with the UFC’s typical championship schedule, which typically involves two title defences. Wood must start over and prepare for three more title fights, just like Dvalishvili in MMA history, trying to become the first man in history to defend his UFC title four times in one year.
Merab Dvalishvili (red gloves) and trainer John Wooden (center) react after defeating Sean O’Malley (not pictured) in their bantamweight title fight at UFC 316 at Prudential Center.
Wood has Dvalishvili ready for UFC 316 in June. Not only did he dominate Sean O’Malley in the rematch, but he also finished him this time, becoming the first man to submit “Suga”. This is a huge sign of Dvalishvili’s upgrade under Wood. Dvalishvili will return four months later to face Corey Sandhagen at UFC 320 in October. He dominated again, completely pinning Sandhagen and tying the UFC record for most consecutive bantamweight title defenses.
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Two months later, Wood returned to a UFC title fight, this time pitting Dvalishvili against former champion Petr Yan. Unfortunately for Dvalishvili and his camp, they failed in their bid to make history. Yan hatched a plan to overthrow Dvalishvili. However, despite the defeat, Dvalishvili did a great job for himself, co-creating quite possibly the best title fight in UFC bantamweight history.
It wasn’t a perfect 2025 campaign for Dvalishvili, but it was a very good one and Wood has come a long way.
Wood also has a number of other big wins in 2025. He defeated former champion Jamahal Hill by decision at UFC Baku; Nazim Sadykhov had brutal KO wins over Ismael Bonfim and Nikolas Motta; Luana Santos went 2-0 on offense; and others.
Wood’s stellar work with “The Machine” and other fighters is why he is MMA Junkie’s 2025 Coach of the Year.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: John Wood named 2025 Coach of the Year
