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Nick Newell began his professional mixed martial arts career in 2009, when he won his first fight with a first-round knockout. From there, the Connecticut native racked up a series of submission wins, picked up an Xtreme Fighting Championships title and carved out a path to the World Series of Fighting.
Newell won his first two fights with the WSOF to improve to 11-0 and took on lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at WSOF 11 on July 5, 2014.