With a 10-month-old boy at home, two gyms to manage and training for an upcoming fight, Nick Newell is a busy man. Yet, with all that’s going on, he’s embracing the responsibilities of being a new father. Newell (16-2 overall, 1-0 in Bellator) is on the main card of this week’s Bellator 232 event against Manny Muro this Saturday.
Newell admitted in a phone interview with MMA Payout that he’s not the best at changing diapers deferring to his wife, but he’s getting there. One of the learning experiences of changing diapers–he had poop on him and didn’t even notice it. While Newell is honing in on his diaper skills, his MMA skills had him secure a 4-fight deal with Bellator.
The 33-year-old fight fight veteran has a lot going on in his life. He now owns two gyms where he deals with the day-to-day things that come up in a business, trains and teaches classes and tries to spend time with his young son. “I literally never stop,” said Newell.
In the first fight of his four-fight deal with Bellator, Newell is in a good place with the promotion and Scott Coker. “Bellator is a fighters’ first organization,” Newell added, “They have always worked with me and been super helpful and great to me and have treated me well and not just as a novelty act.” After what one might call an audition with the Viacom-owned Bellator this summer in which he passed with another submission victory on his record, the organization gave him a deal that could have him a mainstay for the company.
Welcome to the Fam, @NotoriousNewell! ✒️📈 pic.twitter.com/reZApZrWUH
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 18, 2019
Newell is training out of his two gyms, Fighting Arts Academy, in West Haven, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. In addition to his set of coaches, he’s brought in a couple more to get ready for his first fight under his new deal.
Although he believes that his opponent Manny Muro is a “well-rounded” fighter Newell is looking to end the matchup early. I want to “get it done as fast as I can.” Of his 16 wins, Newell has 13 via stoppage (2 KOs and 11 submissions). Muro, who has one Bellator fight under his belt (a win in 2017), won his last bout on the regional circuit this past June. But, prior to that he had dropped three in a row all by stoppages. Newell look to add a fourth straight stoppage to Muro’s record.
Newell’s arm-triangle choke of Corey Browning in the very 1st round this past August showed Bellator what many observers knew, he’s a beast of a fighter with a top-notch submission game.
Despite losing a unanimous decision to Alex Munoz last July, only his second of his career, during Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Newell has moved on from trying to fight for the UFC a goal. He proved to Bellator that he could be an exciting fighter that could make a run at a championship like he did in the World Series of Fighting.
He’s also keeps himself prepared to fight at a moment’s notice as with this fight being an example. “The honest truth was that I wasn’t tired of training and training hard. I just wanted to hang out with my son,” said Newell of his fight schedule and his initial thoughts of taking time off after his August fight. But, Newell believes that being busy is a good thing. Newell said that he has breakfast with his wife, who works as a speech pathologist and his son and then leaves for the gym around 9 in the morning and does not return home until 10:30pm at night. Newell’s wife does the “brunt of the work” although they do have help to watch their son from family.
If all goes well after this fight, Newell would like to spend some time to be there with his son although he’s always there to answer the call if Scott Coker were to ask. Yet, he does want to dedicate time to be a dad and with the new security of a fight deal with Bellator, he could do just that. The Connecticut-native looks to make it two in a row this Saturday night at Bellator 232.
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