Nick "Notorious" Newell is an American mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu black belt who was born with his left arm ending just below the elbow. He became a lightweight champion in regional MMA and later fought in the WSOF and Bellator. His Instagram mixes training, coaching and adaptive-athlete content.
Background
Newell was born on 17 March 1986 in Milford, Connecticut. He wrestled at Jonathan Law High School and then at Western New England University, an NCAA Division III programme. Wikipedia notes that he uses his short, muscular forearm to grip and grasp. He holds a jiu-jitsu black belt under Andrew Calandrelli and runs Fighting Arts Academy in Milford.
MMA career
- Amateur: 5–1 record.
- XFC: on 7 December 2012 he won the vacant XFC lightweight title at XFC 21 with a rear-naked choke on Eric Reynolds. He was later stripped of the belt after declining a defence against Scott Holtzman.
- WSOF: won Submission of the Year in 2013. In July 2014 he fought Justin Gaethje for the WSOF lightweight title and lost by second-round TKO. After two decision wins in 2015 he announced his retirement.
- Return: he came back in March 2018 with a submission of Sonny Luque at LFA 35. On Dana White's Contender Series in July 2018, he lost a unanimous decision to Alex Munoz.
- Bellator: submitted Corey Browning with an arm-triangle choke in August 2019, then lost split decisions to Manny Muro (October 2019) and Bobby King (June 2021).
Wikipedia lists his professional record as 16–4, with 11 wins by submission.
Related pages
His XFC title win and his Bellator win both came by choke. Our rear-naked choke, arm-triangle choke and back control pages cover them. Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.