BLAENAVON'S Josh Reed was just edged out in his world title bout at Cage Warriors 86 at London's 02 Indigo on Saturday, writes Jason Batty.

Bantamweight challenger Reed went painfully close to taking the belt from world champion Nathaniel Wood in his own back yard.

The title fight was scheduled for five five-minute rounds but both fighters said before the contest that they did not expect this to go the distance and it lasted just two and a half minutes in a thrilling match up.

Wood opened the exchanges with some solid leg kicks to the leading leg of the challenger, but the more aggressive Reed answered back and completely stunned the champion with a powerful short right hand.

Not giving Wood a chance to breathe, a ferocious Reed seemed to find joy in attack mode as he bombarded the Londoner with punch after solid punch before throwing his opponent to the canvas only for him to stand back up and take more punishment from the Welshman.

Relentless and seeing a finish in his grasps, Tillery Combat fighter Reed kept swinging as the champion hung on to survive.

Barely composed, Wood then swung a wild right hand and missed but followed with a solid left that caught and rocked Reed.

In an inconceivable shift in momentum, Wood was able to quickly capitalise on a startled Reed and he landed two knees as the challenger tried to recover.

Determined to the last, Reed stayed on his feet and managed to throw more punches in a further fierce exchange until Wood landed a couple of crisp shots that were enough for the referee to jump in between the two standing men, feeling that the Reed had taken too much punishment half way through the first round.

Reed felt it came too soon. "In my head, I thought it was stopped too early," he said. "I tried to push the ref off me, I remember everything. I knew where I was in my head, so I was clear."

After a gruelling 10-week training camp, Reed intends on seeing the next few months out competing in Jiu Jitsu competitions before returning to MMA next year.

Asked what is next for him, he said: "I'd like a rematch based on how it went, but I don't think they (Wood and his team) would want that. If not I want to stay in the mix with some big fights."

Despite the first loss of his career, a performance of that calibre will keep the Tillery Combat fighter in the mix and a rematch would certainly be welcomed by the hundreds of Welsh fans who made the journey to London.