Ray “All Business” Wood never met Jordan Parsons.
But as the mixed martial arts world mourns Parsons’ death Tuesday because of injuries suffered last weekend in an unsolved hit-and-run automobile crash in Delray Beach, Florida, Wood shares in the loss.
“As a fellow mixed martial artist, you have that natural bond,” said Wood, the 26-year-old Bucksport High School graduate who has been selected to replace Parsons on the Bellator 154 card scheduled for Saturday, May 14, at the SAP Centre in San Jose, California.
“You feel like you already know him just because of the same passion you share. You know he’s spent the same hours you have dedicated to the same sport, so you’re part of that brotherhood whether you know him or not, and you feel for him and his family, for sure.”
Parsons, 25, had compiled an 11-2 professional record including a 2-1 mark for Bellator MMA, and was scheduled to face undefeated Anthony Piccolotti in a three-round lightweight bout.
Instead Wood, normally a featherweight who defeated previously unbeaten Brandon Phillips on a regional card in suburban Wichita, Kansas, just last Saturday night, will get the chance to face Piccolotti on short notice in a main card event that will be televised live on Spike TV.
“It’s a tragic way to get an opportunity, but I’m going to go out there in his honor,” said Wood, who plans to have Parsons’ name printed on the shorts he’ll wear into the cage against Piccolotti as well as on his walkout T-shirt that night. “He’ll be in the cage, regardless.”
Wood had contacted Bellator officials Monday after returning from Kansas to his current home in Amarillo, Texas, but the call had nothing to do with replacing Parsons, who was still alive but had lost a leg and was in a coma at the time.
Wood, who had made his debut with the national-level promotion on March 4 with a first-round stoppage of Chris “Lionheart” Jones in Thackerville, Oklahoma, was lobbying Bellator’s matchmaker for a spot on a planned July show at the same venue where he fought last weekend.
“He sent me a text back, but I didn’t really think anything of it because it didn’t seem like he was that interested,” Wood said. “Ten minutes later he called me and said he had an opportunity but that the fight was at 155 [pounds] and that’s not my normal weight class, so he didn’t know if I would want it, but that it paid exceptionally well and they’d cover the travel to fly us out to California.
“I looked up the opponent and realized it’s an extremely tough fight, so I called my wife and said I’d been presented with this opportunity. I know I just fought four days ago, but this was a good opportunity to get out there and make my name known. We discussed it for a bit and decided to take it.”
Wood, 8-1 as a professional with four knockouts and two submissions, emerged from the Phillips bout unhurt and in good condition, enabling him to prepare for a second fight in two weeks.
“Looking at that fight, it was a good cardio test,” the former New England Fights featherweight champion said. “It was a good workout regardless, so maybe in the big picture it was just the warmup for bigger things to come.”
Piccolotti (7-0 with two knockouts and three submissions), is 3-0 in Bellator bouts, including a second-round victory by rear naked choke over Mario Soto in his most recent fight Dec. 4 at Bellator 147.
One other significant factor in Wood’s willingness to take the Piccolotti bout is that according to his contract he has been guaranteed at least two more bouts with the top-tier Bellator promotion.
