Justin Gaethje became the first World Series of Fighting lightweight champion last night in South Florida as he defeated Rich Patishnock by knockout in the first round.
It was the fourth win for Gaethje inside the World Series of Fighting cage and his first title defense could end up being against fellow undefeated fighter Nick Newell.
During the post fight scrum, World Series of Fighting Executive Vice President Ali Abdel-Aziz told TheMMAReport.com that Newell sat next to him last night and convinced him that he should get a title shot.
“To be honest with you, Nick sat next to me and he convinced me,” Abdel-Aziz said. “He said ‘I need this title shot.’ Honestly, I would like to see Nick fight one more tough fight before fighting Justin, but at this point, I can’t deny Nick Newell.”
Newell (11-0) was signed by the World Series of Fighting last year and made his debut with the organization at World Series of Fighting 4 and needed a little more than two minutes to defeat Keon Caldwell by guillotine choke submission. He returned at World Series of Fighting 7 in December and needed only 81 seconds to stop Sabah Fadai with a standing guillotine choke submission. It was his tenth win to come in the first round and seven of those wins have come in under two minutes.
Abdel-Aziz plans to talk with the camps of Gaethje and Newell about this potential title fight, but he thinks that Newell deserves the first shot against the newly crowned World Series of Fighting lightweight champion.
“He is also a guy that finishes guys and less than two minutes and like Nick Newell, I am not going to take anything away from him because he has one arm or one leg. That might be the next fight but we will talk to both camps and see what they want to do. But I think Nick Newell deserves a title shot.”