Every once in awhile, a new athlete bursts onto the sports scene that takes everyone by surprise.  There have been unexpected stories of overcoming adversities and achieving success that can’t help but make you smile and think, “Well, maybe if he could do it, then so can I!”

Plenty of fighters make their professional Mixed Martial Arts debut every year.  Not many of them do it with just one arm.

Fighter Nic Newell has had to overcome a physical disability that he was born with in order to achieve his dreams of fighting for the UFC.  Although his left arm ends after his elbow, he chooses not to wear a prosthetic.

Newell’s disability hasn’t deterred his will and determination to fight.

Newell, 23, faced his first professional lightweight fight on June 20 and defeated Dan Ford in a Cagefighting Xtreme event in Plymouth, Mass.   Newell won by a technical knockout (TKO), three minutes into the first round.  Before going professional, Newell had a 2-1 amateur record and has been turning heads ever since.

Previously, Ford’s professional record was 1-2, according to mixedmartialarts.com.

Former National Amateur Fight League 155lb championship winner Newell may have a disadvantage when it comes to fighting, but he doesn’t think of it in that way.

“Regardless of whether I have a disability or not, I always want to win and be the best,” Newell said in an interview with Fanhouse.  He attributes his success to determination, ability to adapt to adversity and perseverance to achieve his dreams.   

He also stated that throughout his career, he hopes to show that people with disabilities can be successful, and to not give up on your goals.

Before fighting in MMA events, Newell was an all-state high school wrestler and won over 150 matches.  Newell also captioned the team.  After high school, he went on to wrestle in college at Western New England College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication. 

He became interested in MMA after he saw the sport on television and then went to witness it live.

With the world of Mixed Martial Arts growing more popular by the day, there are many misconceptions about the sport.  Here’s setting the record straight.

10.  MMA has been around since the time of the ancient Greeks.

Around 600 BC, the Greeks started a new sport in their ancient Olympic Games.  This new sport, Pankration (meaning “all powers”) combined the elements of wrestling and boxing into one sport.  Similar to today, matches were fought in rings and were won by knocking your opponent unconscious or through submission by the opponent raising his hand.

9.  Many believe that fighters fast to lose weight in days before an event, but most chose to lose it in a healthy way.   Fighters often lose the weight  through different ways.  Some use diet and exercise, while others go sweat it out in the sauna.  Seemingly, most fighters are dedicated to a healthy and natural diet all year, as to avoid the last minute weight loss.

8.  Some fighters say the biggest mistake you can make is not being humble.  In an interview with MMA frenzy, Cole Miller said that not being humble often leads to a humiliating loss, making a fighter want to rethink his career choice.

7.  MMA is a team sport– a fighter’s team, staff and trainers are the force behind the fighters.  They’re the people closest to the fighter; after spending hours a day in training, they’re often thought of as family.  Fighters and coaches often give their all to each other, which has been a winning combination in the world of MMA.

6.  UFC champs gets to keep the belt.  UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez supposedly tried to sell his belt on Ebay in 2008 to raise money for a local school.

5.  The first publicized “MMA” event was in China in 1909 between British boxer Hercules O’Brien and Chinese martial artist Huo Yuan Jia.  The fighters had a hard time agreeing to the rules of the match, but they decided that whoever could knock down the other would win. 

The 2006 movie Fearless, is loosely based off of this fight and focuses on Yuan Jia’s life, who is arguably one of the most famous Chinese martial artists of all times.

4.  Thought Cub Swanson got knocked out quickly in June 2009 by Jose Aldo?  His eight seconds before knockout is a century compared to the knockout of Lautaro Tucas by Chris Clements in three seconds back in 2006.

3.  UFC continued to grow in popularity in the mid 90s, when they promoted their fights as “the bloodiest fighting you’ll ever see.”  Critics referred to it as “human cockfighting.”  Interestingly, the sport’s death rate is extremely low; its death count is currently being debated.  Some reports, for example associatedcontent.com,  state there are no deaths in the sport’s history, others, such as Grapplearts.com, say one death has occurred. 

2.  MMA is one of the most regulated sports in the world.  With numerous rules and judges, in addition to set time limits and amount of rounds, the league’s concern for the fighters’ safety is most important.  The regulation system is under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and includes over 30 rules.  Many of these rules are similar to those used in Olympic events.

More precautions are taken with fighters than with many athletes from other sports.  Medical teams are present at every fight, and fighters often receive MRIs both before and after fights.

1.  MMA fighters have been successful collegiate athletes and Olympic athletes; the first ever being Mark Schultz, who received a gold medal in wrestling during the 1984 Olympic Games.  Schultz fought one MMA fight before returning to coach wrestling at the collegiate level.

Other Olympic athletes and MMA fighters include Rulon Gardner, Kevin Jackson and Kenny Monday.  Most have only fought in several matches.

To learn about the misconceptions of the dangers of UFC, click here.

To read more about the quickest knockouts, click here.

The first fight I ever watched converted me into a follower.

I never watched any type of Mixed Martial Arts match from start to finish. Fighting just wasn’t something I had considered to be entertaining. I’d linger when I channel surfed, but all it was to me at the time was a bunch of scary-looking guys beating each other up; it was something I never really saw myself getting into, despite being a sports nut.

But after watching overly dramatic commercials on the rematch between Mike Brown  and Urijah Faber being the fight of the year, I just had to see what all the fuss was about. And boy, did I find out.

After five rounds of action-packed punches, elbows and kicks, Brown defeated “California Kid” Faber by unanimous decision.

The upset of last year’s World Extreme Cagefighting Championship by Brown over Faber was unexpected and led Faber to say he was “eager to get some redemption,” as said to the WEC.

The rematch of this fight took place Sun., June 7, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. and was much anticipated. The fights leading up to the main event were nearly as exciting. Notably, one match lasted only eight seconds, with Jose Aldo knocking out Cub Swanson with a flying knee.

The match took place in Faber’s hometown, and when he walked into the arena the crowd erupted with cheers. Several times throughout the fight, chants of “Faber, Faber!” could be heard. Despite this, Brown came away from the fight victorious.

“I heard the boo’s coming in and I actually – I almost like it,” Brown said in an interview with WEC.tv. “When I’m the hometown guy, when people cheer for me, I almost am nervous, like ‘Oh no, I don’t want to let these guys down.’ But when I’m booed it makes me want to fight.”

Faber arguably took Round 1, while Brown dominated the rest of the fight, and won by unanimous decision after five hard-fought rounds, once again making him the WEC Featherweight Champion.

After breaking his hand early on in the fight, Faber did a good job of hiding it from the viewers and from his opponent for several rounds, eventually throwing more elbows instead of punches.

About halfway into the fight, Versus announcers called the fight “a classic in the making,” giving credit to Brown and Faber as both being talented and persevering athletes in the MMA world. Wec.tv called the fight “epic” and “one of the most memorable bouts of the year.” Philly.com called it one of the “biggest events in the history of the WEC.”

This sport got to me for several reasons. It showed strong emotions, determination, mental and physical toughness and extreme athleticism. It had me yelling at the television, screaming “Hit him!” and wondering how in the world the fighters got out of some of those holds (the guillotine and triangle chokes are insane!).

When the fighters teared up after losing or winning, I felt for them. Despite being an individual sport, it was still all about teamwork and supporting all the trainers that helped them get to the fight.

I admire their toughness even when injured. You can’t name too many professional athletes that would continue to play despite breaking a hand.

So, I think I learned my lesson: Don’t judge a sport ‘til you watch it!

MMA Mania

Summer is always a good time to get out of your air-conditioned house and try something new and different from your usual workout routine.  For many, summer also gives more freedom in a relaxed atmosphere and time to step out of comfort zones; power-walking and tennis at the country club get old after awhile.  If you’re really feeling adventurous, try one of the fast-growing popular new sports in America, Mixed Martial Arts.

With the many various forms of MMA fighting, one may get overwhelmed with deciding which route to try out.  (And, if you’re in the middle of nowhere in Central Pennsylvania, believe that you have no shot of finding classes near you.)

No-Gi Grappling:  Unless you’re familiar with the MMA world, you may have never heard of this type of submission technique.  However, it is quickly becoming popular and is used frequently in MMA fights- there are even nutritional supplements intended for performing No-Gi Grappling.  With odd-sounding names of techniques from Rear Naked Arm Crush to Japanese Necktie, one is sure to find a technique that is best for their style of fighting.

According to No-Gi-Grappling.com, fighters have described the Japanese Necktie as “the quickest tap I ever got.”  What makes this technique so hard to get out of are several things.  It’s an extremely tight hold, made by trapping the leg of the opponent and then pushing his chest on the back of the opponent’s neck and squeezing, leaving fighters no other choice but to “tap out.” 

No-Gi Grappling is a program based off of Combat Submission Wrestling, which was founded by Erik Paulson.  Back in the 1990s, the Gracie family was the first to show the effectiveness of grappling in UFC events and it evolved from there.

No-Gi Grappling is similar to grappling, which involves controlling and handling an opponent through various types of holds, instead of striking.  It includes choke holds and ground fighting, as well as standing.  These holds involve throwing, locking and pinning one’s opponent.  In ground fighting, escapes are also used.  Grappling sports include jiu-jitsu, judo, mixed martial arts and wrestling.

Both types focus on taking down the opponent, but the ways they aim to accomplish this are different.  To learn more about these differences, click here.

If you’re located in Central Pennsylvania, Titan Fitness in downtown State College offers classes teaching No-Gi Grappling.  Click HERE for more information.

According to their website at titanfitness.com, No-Gi Grappling classes generally teach an athlete “to compete in submission grappling tournaments. It also has a strong influence on the importance of striking on the ground for both self-defense purposes and MMA competitive fighting.”

Even if you’re not training seven days a week to win an MMA Championship, practicing No-Gi Grappling, or any type of MMA training for that matter, is good both for fitness and self-defense purposes.  Don’t worry, those sore muscles are to be expected!

Thanks to No-Gi-Grappling.com