Nick Newell has been a professional fighter since 2009 and accumulated a perfect record despite having one hand. (Douglas Healey)
Newell after a grueling training session at Ultimate MMA in North Haven, Conn. (Douglas Healey)
Nick Newell (l.) and his mother Stacey.
NORTH HAVEN, Conn. – It happened at movie theaters and shopping malls and amusement parks. A kind stranger would approach and graciously try to help Nick Newell tie his shoes or put on his jacket.
And then Nick’s mother Stacey would tell them to buzz off.
“You’re not gonna be following him around for the next 20 years tying his shoe,” she says.
The thought behind that didn’t just resonate with Newell. It has defined his entire life. He was born without a left hand – his arm ends just below his elbow – but the word “disability” was never uttered in their Milford, Conn., home. Stacey, who raised Newell as a single mom, wouldn’t allow it.
“All people are born with disadvantages,” Newell said. “Mine is just something you can see.”
And because people could see it, they judged. They told him he couldn’t tie his shoes or learn to ride a bicycle or steer a car. Newell did them all and now he’s taken proving people wrong to an unheard of level.
His job now is to beat up other men – men who have two hands – and he’s pretty damn good at it.
An undefeated MMA fighter at 9-0, Newell will step into the cage Saturday against Keon Caldwell at World Series of Fighting 4 in Ontario, Calif. The card will air live on NBC Sports Network at 10:30 p.m. ET.
“There’s so many things that I’ve learned to do that people said I’d never be able to do,” the 27-year-old Newell said. “It just kind of makes me laugh at this point. Like OK, you go ahead and tell me what I can’t do from the couch, from your little computer, and I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway.”
That very well could have been Stacey talking. She says she never for a second treated her son like he wasn’t just like every other kid.
“You can’t be mad about it and you can’t dwell on it,” she said. “But you can’t listen to other people tell you where your life is going either. It doesn’t work that way.”
Which is why Newell threw himself into wrestling. Some didn’t think he’d win a match, yet he became one of the most decorated high school grapplers in Connecticut history, amassing a record 53 wins in a single season and earning all-state honors at Jonathan Law HS.
When he walked into the nearby Ultimate MMA gym for the first time in high school, head coach Andrew Calandrelli already heard of him. But it wasn’t until after wrestling at Western New England and training at Fighting Arts Academy in Springfield, Mass., that Newell decided on making MMA a profession.
Stacey wasn’t happy about the choice. She also never doubted him for a second. Neither did Calandrelli.
“Nobody ever looked at him as having a disability,” said Calandrelli, a decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. “If they did, they’re going to get beaten up.”
Newell made his pro debut in 2009 with a TKO. He knocked out or submitted every opponent except for one en route to winning the XFC lightweight (155 pounds) title in December. His contract expired with that organization and he signed with World Series of Fighting in May.
WSOF president Ray Sefo said he would have inked a deal with Newell regardless of the attention his limb difference brings.
“With the dedication, the motivation and the discipline it takes to be a fighter, this guy shows the true strength of the human spirit,” Sefo said.
Newell is more than a fighter, too. He’s an inspiration to children with limb differences all over the world. Stacey has gotten e-mails from many of their parents. Newell is involved with the Lucky Fin Project non-profit that serves kids like him and he’s spoken at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and for the Helping Hands Foundation.
“It’s a pretty awesome feeling,” Newell said. “I don’t do anything to be a role model. I feel like whether or not you’re in the public eye, you should carry yourself the right way.”
It wasn’t too long ago that Newell was an adolescent idolizing former Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott, who has no right hand. Abbott sent a tweet of support to Newell earlier this year, which Newell immediately took a screen grab of and posted to his Instagram account.
Newell is the Abbott of this generation, someone who has overcome adversity to excel as a professional athlete while spreading his accomplishments and values to those who need to hear them.
“You can say ‘oh life’s not fair’ and complain and think the world owes you something,” Newell said. “Or you can suck it up and just work a little bit harder than everyone else to achieve the things you want to achieve.”
Whether it’s tying your shoes or defeating an opponent via heel hook.