War Nick Newell
The promotion I used to work for that was owned by my cousin put on his very first ammy fights ever
His first opponent was set to be a different cousin of mine, but he backed out because he didn't want to lose to a kid with one arm, or beat a kid with one arm. felt like it was a lose-lose. This situation has now plagued Newell for his entire career til he got more exposure.. but guys still don't want to fight him for this exact reason.
I remember being ring side in the building that was PACKED with people wall to wall at this particular show. Like, no room to move, probably a fire hazard. I was literally leaning on the ring as the fights took place. I took two friends with me who had never seen live fights in their life and didn't know much about MMA. One friend actually got blood splattered on her purse from a guy getting GNP'd a foot away from us in the corner.
After initially freaking out, she started screaming and got in the fights like a primal blood thirsty cave woman. Lol. She was a photographer and didn't even take pics at one point because she couldn't believe how exciting it was to see fights so up close and personal.
ANYWAY. Newell was fighting that night. The dude pulled off such a slick, amazing arm bar on a guy who was touted locally as one of the better BJJ players. I think it's on Youtube but I dunno.
It was that moment I knew the kid was something special. He destroyed this guy and pulled the sub out of nowhere. It was almost a flying arm bar, he pulled guard and just broke this dude's shit, all the way backwards before they hit the ground. So great.
On top of that he is incredibly nice. Maybe the nicest fighter I have ever met in my life. He has REAL skill too. I can't say enough about Newell, man. He's a hero to me. I'll never forget seeing those first fights of his up close in perosn and watching him go from there to being on NBC live with Bas Rutten commentating on his fights. I was baffled at what I was seeing that first time live.I thought he was going to get seriously hurt despite everyone saying he had legit skill.
Needless to say, my cousin made the right choice in not fighting hm. My cousin never trained much and Nick would have absolutely wrecked him. He fought one of Nick's team mates instead, Leon Davis, and got TKO'd in 50 seconds after a huge suplex and some GNP.
He lost only 1 ammy fight before getting TKO'd by Gatheje. I really do believe he can continue to fight at the highest levels. The Gatheje fight was more a reflection on Justin's skill than Nick's lack of. Justin is high, UFC level. Nick can very well be there soon, too. Skill wise, he is pretty much there. He just has a lot of trouble due to everything.
Anyway rant over. Let me just tell you. If you never rooted for this kid. You really should. He's an awesome fighter and person who doesn't have a mean bone in his body. What he's overcome and done in the cage is nothing short of spectacular. Before the Justin fight he had beaten 3-4 guys in a row who were serious threats like they were nothing.
I know he went into that fight hurt, too. Not making excuses. But against THAT level of opponent, on top of his natural disadvantage, he was almost guaranteed to lse that night.
I hope that loss doesn't change him forever. THat's the kind of loss that makes or breaks somebody. However, Newell has such amazing drve that I think he will only get better. Gotta admit thpough< I'm very nervous about seeing him fight tonight. Would hate to see him lose.
