Dana White Seemingly Ends Nick Newell’s UFC Hopes
Nick Newell’s UFC hopes might have just gone up in smoke.
The one-handed mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter got his shot at a UFC contract on UFC President Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series 14. He came up short it his fight against Alex Munoz, being dominated en-route to a unanimous decision loss.
Despite the loss, Newell won’t let his UFC dreams die just yet. He plans to continue his MMA career and hopefully end up on the promotion’s roster one day.
Dana White spoke to MMA Junkie about Newell, and seemingly shut the door on the 32-year-old having a future in the UFC:
“I respect that kid very much,” White said. “Obviously that’s why I gave him an opportunity. I always believed that the UFC was a tough place for Nick. This a tough place with two arms and two legs. This is the real deal. I put him in the Contender Series to see if he could make it to the UFC. He didn’t make it.”
Newell responded to White’s comments on Twitter, again showing perseverance and vowing to prove his doubters wrong when it’s all said and done:
Tons of people lost on TUF & bounced back great. Dillashaw, Pettis, Shogun, Lesnar & Condit all lost their UFC debuts & ended up winning titles. Theres wilder shit in this world then a one handed guy competing w/ elite in MMA. I will prove I belong.
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) August 8, 2018
His loss to Munoz was only the second defeat of Newell’s MMA career. While the UFC might not be interested right now, Newell feels that he could make quite an impact under Bellator MMA’s banner:
I would sell that place out easy. WSOF have me 25k in tickets for Foxwoods & I personally sold them no problem. I could do 30k easy at Mohegan. CT has my back. https://t.co/hHT4FbzHdN
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) August 9, 2018
