(“I can’t sit around my whole life trying to make other people’s careers better. I gotta do what’s best for me, and what’s best for me is moving on.” / Photo via ProMMANow.com)

Yesterday, XFC president John Prisco announced publicly that lightweight champion Nick Newell (9-0) had been “stripped of [his] title” after refusing to fight XFC’s top lightweight contender Nate Holtzman (4-0). Following the news, Newell released the following statement on his Facebook fan page:

EVERYBODY CALM DOWN! First of I AM NOT UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE XFC. XFC promoted a fight that didn’t exist yet.

The headlines are misleading and imply that I was stripped of my title because I refused to fight when in fact I just chose not to renew my contract with the XFC. I am not scared to fight anybody. I have been through too much in my life to be scared of any man. All you have to do is look at one of my fights to see my heart & my fearless style. This has nothing to do with me being scared. It is more so just an attempt to bully me into a contract.

XFC trash talking me and trying to slander my name upsets me more then anything but they are promoters. XFC is promoting, thats what they do. They have to try and make their guys look as good as possible and I’m not one of their guys so it is at my expense.

Even though Scott is bad mouthing me as well, I have no ill will towards him. I consider myself to be a professional and as a professional I choose to stay away from negative talk towards other fighters, but I understand that he is an unfortunate victim of circumstance.

Definitely not scared just have my eyes on bigger pastures.

Love you all,
Nicholas G. Newell

CagePotato contacted Nick yesterday evening to further clarify the situation, and he spent a few minutes with us to discuss his version of the events that led to his split with the XFC, as well as his plans for the immediate future. Short version: Newell’s decision to leave was based on his desire to continue moving upward in his career — and had nothing to do with Scott Holtzman specifically — and he’s very close to announcing his next fight contract. Check it out…

CAGEPOTATO.COM: John Prisco blasted you pretty hard for not accepting a fight against Scott Holtzman; he said you were scared, and that Holtzman would have stopped you in the first round. Did that feel like a betrayal to you?

Ever since he was dubbed the winner of our “Proving Grounds” competition a couple years back, we have repeatedly sung the praises of undefeated, congenial amputee fighter “Notorious” Nick Newell. We’ll spare you the obvious cliches, but to say that Newell’s dramatic (also, absolutely devastating) run under the XFC banner — which culminated in a first round submission victory over Eric Reynolds to claim the promotion’s lightweight title – was anything less than inspiring would be a disservice.

Unfortunately, Newell’s influential story has turned into that of controversy recently.

Newell was scheduled to defend his newly-earned title against fellow undefeated prospect Scott “Hot Sauce” Holtzman at the upcoming XFC 24, but according to XFC President, John Prisco, Newell has refused to defend his title against anyone but a UFC veteran and has thusly been stripped of his title. Prisco spoke directly through XFC’s official website and he was rather candid:

(Video via AXSTV)

Former CagePotato Proving Grounds winner Nick Newell kicked, suplex-slammed and choked his way to victory in Nashville, TN last night, earning the XFC 155 pound title in the process. As you can see in the fight video above, Newell took out Bellator veteran Eric Reynolds quickly and improved his unblemished record to 9-0.

Reynolds himself has before gone the distance with both Jorge Masvidal and maybe UFC-bound Eddie Alvarez. Newell beating Reynolds in such dominating fashion, then, has to put him one step closer to consideration for the big leagues.

The southpaw Newell began his attack against Reynolds with rear and and lead kicks, both low and high, before closing the distance and getting behind Reynolds with a body lock. From there, Newell maintained control and bided his time before lifting his opponent high up into the air and slamming him face down onto the mat. Newell quickly spun around to get his legs around Reynolds and took his back.

Nick Newell‘s left arm ends at the elbow but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a damned good MMA fighter. The lightweight has been fighting professionally since 2009 and on Friday he emphatically improved his perfect record to 8-0 with a vicious knee to the head KO win.

Newell took on and took out Adam David Mays at XFC 19 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Newell went for the kill in the first round with head kicks, upper cuts, hooks and, finally, knees to the head.

We’re sure it isn’t politically correct to call Newell a “crazy, one-armed bastard,” as television commentator Michael Schiavello did at the end of last night’s fight, but we have to agree. Nick Newell doesn’t need both arms to whoop you – not sure what’s more bad-ass than that.

Watch video of the finish after the jump.

(Props: MMAInsidetheCageTV)

MMA: Inside the Cage’s latest episode runs down all the latest talking points in MMA, from the potential Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg superfight to the death of DREAM, and examines the tragic death of amateur fighter Dustin Jenson in South Dakota. Hosts Casey Oxendine and Cyrus Fees get a professional opinion from fight doctor Nathan Elliott, who explains the importance of pre-fight physicals and the potential danger from “second impact syndrome,” which could have put Jensen’s health in danger considering how frequently he was competing.

But hey, you didn’t come here to get bummed out, right? Brighten your day by checking out the Hit Parade segment that starts at 4:44, which features a powerbomb-KO that will join Rampage vs. Arona and Kaufman vs. Modafferi in the powerbomb-KO Hall of Fame. Plus, Casey gives advice on how to prevent injuries in training, a preview of XFC 18 (June 22nd, Nashville), and a classic scrap between Scott Holtzman and Brandon Demastes. Enjoy, and follow the MMA:ITC guys on Facebook and Twitter.

(Props: oneness2004. Fight begins at the 2:40 mark.)

On Friday night, undefeated MMA fighter and CagePotato film critic Nick Newell increased his pro record to 6-0, picking up yet another first-round stoppage at XFC 15 in Tampa, Florida. Nick was the aggressor early, slugging opponent Denis Hernandez to the fence and taking him down with relative ease. From there, he softened up Hernandez with ground-and-pound before dropping back into a heel-hook. It’s as surprising as it is painful, and Hernandez is forced to tap. Newell’s attempt at an off-the-cage victory somersault is somewhat less successful, but overall, it’s a great showing from our homeboy. Congrats, Nick.

After the jump: Full results from XFC 15, plus another sick submission from the Ryan Thomas vs. John Kolosci bout.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/HDNetFights)

Proving Ground winner and Potato Nation member in good standing Nick Newell appeared on Inside MMA on Monday with Ron Kruck to talk about his upcoming XFC fight and the tragic passing of his good friend Abi Mestre back in April.

“Notorious” Nick’s XFC debut will be a bittersweet one as Abi won the XFC contest for a slot on the promotion’s roster and Nick came second. After Mestre was killed in a motorcycle accident in the spring, the XFC reached out to Nick and offered him the contract in Abi’s place and he accepted with the blessing of Abi’s family.

(VidProps: Youtube/superboxmma)

It appears that whatever remained of Kim Couture’s sad little MMA career unraveled this weekend at an XFC show in Tampa, Florida. If you didn’t already know that Couture is nothing more than a marginally talented former casino worker (with arguably the worst website in the sport) who is just trying to trade off the famous last name of her former husband, well, now you do.

Couture stepped in the cage on Friday night with Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets – a 25-year-old without a Wikipedia page who was making her pro MMA debut – and for a while it looked like things were going to go “Sugar Free’s” way. Couture got the better of the stand-up exchanges landing, as the HDNet broadcast team pointed out, some pretty decent right hands. But a little more than two minutes in, Kheyfets nailed her with an overhand right of her own that sent Couture sprawling to the mat. In the scramble that followed, Kheyfets expertly locked up – what  else? – a triangle choke and secured the tapout.