Who is Nick Newell? The One Handed MMA Fighter Everyone is Talking About

Quick Facts

Nick Newell is popularly known as the one-handed fighter. He was born Nicholas Newell in Milford, Connecticut on March 17, 1986, and he is a mixed martial artist. You may be wondering why he is called a “one-handed fighter” but the reason is obvious.

Newell, who has taken the lightweight division of the MMA by storm is called so because he was born with a condition, or better put, a deformity which ensured that he has no left fist. His predicament in referred to in medical terms as “congenital amputation.” It is a condition he was born with which makes him unable to use his left arm to wield objects as he would have loved to.  He only has what could be called “two muscle shoots” at the tip of the disabled arm which he has learned to use as efficiently as he can to complement the efforts of his right hand.

Looking at him, one would not but wonder why he chose a career in wrestling, seeing it would be an uphill task from the start. In response, however, Nick would be glad to refer you to his over 300 wrestling victories he got fighting from high school to college. he would also let you know that he has a record of 14 victories from his 16 MMA fights. What more lesson does one need on determination and passion to succeed than the example we have in Nick Newell?

In your defense, however (for those who asked the question), Newell also played other sports before settling for wrestling. He played soccer, baseball, and basketball. He says he took to wrestling because he wanted to learn how to defend himself. When he joined his high school’s –  Jonathan Law High School – wrestling team, he lost serially and thought of quitting, but he credits his parents, especially his mother, for spurring him. He remembers them telling him to go out there and strive to get whatever he wanted as though he did not have a disability.

He picked up despite his losses (in most of which he is always pinned to the floor because of his small size at the time) and had an impressive high school career. He continued in the same vein of form when he enrolled at the Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts for college. He became the captain of the college wrestling team and it was also in college that he met Brian Myers who became his roommate. Today, Myers wrestles under the WWE brand with the ring name Curt Hawkins.

Parents

Ther is scanty information about Nick Newell’s family, however, he was raised by a single mother, who name is given as Stacey Newell. She is got to be the strongest woman alive to be able to raise her son into what he has become today. Disability takes its toll on the mind of children, leaving them with no more zeal to fight. But without a man-figure in their lives, Stacey, who worked as a nurse, has been able to raise a fighter in the person of Nick Newell.

She would always tell him that he was no different and that he should never decline any task, or assignment on the basis of his arm. She believed that she needed to make him see himself without the disability and with a belief that he can be anything he wants to be.

Newell’s father, who was absent in his life while he was raised now identifies with him following his fame and success in life

Nick Newell’s MMA Career

As if fighting with one hand was not bad enough, Nick Newell also found it hard to get opponents to fight him. His career was on hold and it was a very tough situation to be in. Most opponents would accept his challenge and then back out of the proposed fight and it was a case of who will be his next opponent and not if he wanted to fight.

For one, no fighter wanted to carry the tag of having only won the fight because the opponent was a one-handed fighter and on the other hand, there was the fear of loosing to the fighter with one hand. In the end, Newell was able to get six fights before he turmed pro in 2009. He won five out of the six fights losing only one.

His first fight after turning professional was a TKO victory over Daniel Ford in Cage Fighting Xtreme (CFX) 3 – Rumble in the Jungle on Jun 20, 2009. He started fighting in the Xtreme Fighting Championships (XFC) after signing a deal with the promotion and Shark Fights in 2011. He was on a 5-0 winning streak and made it 6-0 when he defeated Denis Hernandez in his first XFC fight. He went on to win his next three XFC fights, defeating Chris Coggins, David Mays, and Eric Reynolds, with his victory against Reynolds earning him the XFC Lightweight Championship title.

His winning streak continued on the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) after signing with the promotion in May 2013. He won against Keon Caldwell and Sabah Fadai before losing his first professional bout in the WSOF Lightweight Championship fight against Justin Gaethje. He renewed his contract with WSOF in April 2015 would win two more fights before announcing an early retirement from MMA with an impeccable record of 13-1. However, on March 9, 2018, Nick Newell came out of retirement to fight Sonny Luque who he defeated.

UFC Adventure

Since watching the UFC as a college student, Newell’s dream has been to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It seemed like his dream will never materialize when in 2012, the president of the UFC, Dana White said Newell will ever be allowed to fight in the UFC, citing his disability and concern that it might just be too dangerous for him.

But six years on, White made a U-turn on that stance and announced a fight between the one hand fighter and Alex Munoz in 2018. The fight whose winner will get a UFC contract was billed to take place in the Tuesday Night Contender Series on July 24, 2018. He lost the match by unanimous decision making it his second loss in 16 attempts, however, he is not giving up his dream to get a UFC contract and fight in the promotion.

Relationship – Is He Married?

Nick Newell is presently married to longtime girlfriend, Danielle Walsh. Details of their relationship are not known, but Walsh is a speech pathologist and is expecting their first child in November 2018.

Quick Facts About Nick Newell

Name: Nicholas Newell

Known as: Nick Newell, Notorious

Profession: Wrestling, MMA Fighter

Birth Date: March 17, 1986

Horoscope: Pisces

Birth Place: Milford, Connecticut

Nationality: American

Spouse: Danielle Walsh

Children: Expectant

Height: 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)

Weight:  155 lb (70 kg)

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Hair Color: Black

Net Worth: N/A

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.