MMA Junkie's 2025 Coach of the Year: John Wood

Individual sports often fail to highlight the team effort behind every athlete, and MMA is no different.

Fighters take the bulk of the glory when they get their hand raised in the cage, and rightfully so. But there's also a massive effort behind the scenes, including sparring partners, nutritionists, psychologists, and perhaps most importantly, coaches. This year, John Wood, owner and head coach of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, was behind the greatness MMA Junkie's 2025 Fighter of the Year, Merab Dvalishvili, plus many other standout performances.

Wood, a veteran coach, helped turn Dvalishvili from a champion unlikely to make a title defense, at least according to the odds and general perception, to one of the most dominant champions in the history of the UFC bantamweight division.

Dvalishvili entered UFC 311 in January as an underdog against challenger Umar Nurmagomedov. Yet, against the odds, Dvalishvili outworked Nurmagomedov over the course of 25 minutes, announcing to the world that he was here to stay, and earning a Fight of the Night award in the process.

The work didn't stop there for Wood. Dvalishvili wanted nothing to do with the typical championship calendar in the UFC, which often involves two title defenses. Wood had to go back to the drawing board and prep for three more championship fights, as Dvalishvili went for MMA history – trying to become the first ever to defend a UFC title four times in a calendar year.

Wood got Dvalishvili ready for UFC 316 in June. He not only dominated Sean O'Malley in the rematch, but this time he finished him, becoming the first to submit "Suga." It was a huge sign Dvalishvili had leveled up under Wood's wing. Dvalishvili would return four months later to face Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320 in October. Once again, he dominated, completely shutting down Sandhagen to tie the record for the most consecutive UFC bantamweight title defenses.

Fast-forward two months, and Wood was back again cornering a UFC championship fight – this time with Dvalishvili taking on former champion Petr Yan. Unfortunately for Dvalishvili and his camp, they fell short in their bid for history. Yan had the game plan to dethrone Dvalishvili. Yet, despite the defeat, Dvalishvili made a good account of himself, likely co-creating the best championship fight seen in the history of the UFC's bantamweight division.

It wasn't a perfect run for Dvalishvili in 2025, but it was a damn good one, and Wood was there every step of the way.

Wood also had his hand in many other big wins in 2025. He cornered Khalil Rountree's decision win over former champion Jamahal Hill at UFC Baku; Nazim Sadykhov's brutal KO wins over Ismael Bonfim and Nikolas Motta; Luana Santos' 2-0 run; and others.

Wood's fantastic work with "The Machine" along with other fighters is the reason why he's MMA Junkie's 2025 Coach of the Year.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: John Wood names 2025 Coach of the Year