THE accent may be a touch more transatlantic these days but Joanne “Jojo” Wood remains as patriotic as ever.

Alongside Paul Craig, the 35 year-old continues to put Scotland on the map in the world of UFC and it has not gone unnoticed. When she arrived for a recent training camp in Kansas City, waiting for her was a Sporting KC shirt from Johnny Russell, the former Dundee United and Scotland striker.

Wood has been based in Las Vegas for the past few years and hasn’t encountered many Scots in that time living in the United States, making Russell’s gesture one that meant a lot to her.

“That was so funny,” she explains. “I was in Kansas training with one of my team-mates and my promoter told me a Scottish guy had left me a football shirt. And it’s a really nice top! I looked him up on Instagram and we messaged a bit so I could thank him and now I’m following him.

“I didn’t get to meet him which would have been nice but getting his shirt was the next best thing. Maybe the next time we can meet up as I definitely need to be around more Scottish people.

“People think I’m losing my accent as I’m constantly surrounded by Americans! There aren’t many Scots here. There’s one guy who works for the UFC but I don’t see him that often so we could do with a few more for me to hang out with so I can get my accent back.”

The Kilmarnock scrapper hasn’t been back home for a while now due to lockdown but admits she would jump at the chance should UFC follow up on recent noises about hosting another fight night in Glasgow.

Craig has already intimated that he would sign up for that and Wood wouldn’t be far behind him in committing, having competed at the two previous events at the Hydro in 2017 and 2015.

“The first thing I’m going to ask for when I get on the mic is for the UFC to come back to Glasgow, we’ve definitely got a case,” she adds. “The two times they were there before it sold out and it was a crazy atmosphere and it would be the same again I’ve no doubt.

“If that goes ahead then I’ll definitely come home for that. And it would be great to see my family again too.”

Wood is back in the Octagon in Columbus, Ohio this evening, taking on Mexican fighter Alexa Grasso in the co-headlining bout of UFC Fight Night 205. On the back of two defeats, there is a determination to make a positive impression in her first fight of 2022 as she continues to eye a shot at the champion, Valentina Shevchenko, down the line.

“I’m dying to get back in there and bounce back from the last couple of fights,” she adds. “The preparations have all been good and I’m really looking forward to this one.

“Grasso is more of a boxer so the camp has been fun, working on a lot of boxing moves. I like to throw more kicks but our styles are quite similar apart from that as we both like to stand and strike.

“We were meant to fight last year so it’s good it’s finally happening now. She’s a strawweight coming up to flyweight rather than the girls I’ve fought recently who were coming down from bantamweight so we’ll be a similar size in the ring which should help me too.

“I only found out last week that we’re co-headlining the night so that’s pretty cool too. There should be lots of people watching and hopefully the time is okay for people back home too.

“I’ve still got a couple of fights left on my deal so it’s nice to have that security. The long-term dream is to get a shot at Valentina. She’s the queen right now and has taken out everyone but she’s not taken out me. So I’ve still got that chance.”

And what’s Columbus been like as a place this week? She laughs.

“It’s actually kind of like Scotland here. It’s been raining the last few days so it reminds me of home. A lot different from Vegas, that’s for sure.”