Nick Newell, who was born with a congenital amputation of his left arm, wants a shot in the UFC. The dangerous lightweight has made no secret of that fact over the last few months. From the sounds of it, the World Series of Fighting veteran will have a decisive answer about his potential move to the big stage today.
On Monday afternoon, Newell met with UFC President Dana White at the UFC headquarters in Las Vegas to discuss his long-awaited Octagon debut. Newell’s manager Ali Abdelaziz spilled the beans about this meeting.
“Here with one of the best lightweights in the world [Nick Newell],” Abdelaziz said in an Instagram post uploaded from the UFC headquarters.
Shortly thereafter, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto provided the context of Newell and Abdelaziz’s meeting with White, explaining that it did indeed have to do with the Newell fighting in the UFC.
UFC president Dana White told me he met with Nick Newell and his agent Ali Abdelaziz yesterday in Las Vegas. "Obviously his dream is to fight in the UFC. I told him I would give him an answer by tomorrow." Newell is still in Vegas today, flies home tomorrow morning.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) April 24, 2018
“UFC president Dana White told me he met with Nick Newell and his agent Ali Abdelaziz [on Monday] in Las Vegas. “Obviously his dream is to fight in the UFC. I told him I would give him an answer by tomorrow.” Newell is still in Vegas today, flies home tomorrow morning,” Okamoto explained on Twitter.
Interestingly, Newell also commented on his meeting with White, explaining that he had not planned on making it public, but admitting that the meeting went quite well.
Wasn't going to say anything about even meeting @danawhite but what I will say is that he was all class. Really hoping him & @AliAbdelaziz00 can get this deal done. I've sacrificed so much over the past 17 years to become the fighter I am but the last chapter still isn't written. https://t.co/XuPlwI3gsp
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) April 25, 2018
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“Wasn’t going to say anything about even meeting [Dana White] but what I will say is that he was all class,” he said. “Really hoping him & [Ali Abdelaziz] can get this deal done. I’ve sacrificed so much over the past 17 years to become the fighter I am but the last chapter still isn’t written.”
Nick Newell is 14-1 as a pro mixed martial artist, with his lone loss coming to former World Series of Fighting champ and current UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje. Do you want to see him in the UFC?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/25/2018.