Less than a year after signing with World Series of Fighting, Nick Newell is getting a chance to fight for the promotion’s lightweight title.
The undefeated rising star will meet Justin Gaethje for the World Series of Fighting lightweight title in July, WSOF executive vice-president Ali Abdel-Aziz informed MMAFighting.com. Yahoo Sports first broke the news Tuesday afternoon.
Abdel-Aziz said the promotion will announce where and exactly when the title fight will take place in the coming weeks. The promotion is expected to make its NBC debut this summer, but Abdel-Aziz wouldn’t disclose whether the title fight would air on the broadcast network.
Newell (11-0) is 2-0 in WSOF, defeating both opponents via first-round submission. The 28-year-old, who has received a considerable amount of attention due to the fact that he is a congenital amputee, had been campaigning for a title shot over the past few months. He won the XFO lightweight title in 2012 but never defended it because he signed with WSOF several months later.
Gaethje (11-0) won the WSOF title in January after defeating Rich Patishnock via first-round TKO. He’s currently 4-0 in WSOF and considered one of the best fighters in the organization.
WSOF returns to NBC Sports Network this Saturday night with an event headlined by Steve Carl vs. Rousimar Palhares for the welterweight title.