Three years after winning an XFC open tryout as an largely unknown and unheralded 2-0 fighter, Jason Hicks is a single win away from his biggest fight yet: a title shot against XFC lightweight champion Nick Newell.
Hicks (5-0) faces fellow unbeaten Scott Holtzman (3-0) in the headliner of tonight's "XFC 22: Crossing the Line" event at Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, N.C. The night's main card airs on AXS TV (10 p.m. ET).
And the winner gets the title shot?
"That's what I've heard, so hopefully that stays true," Hicks told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
Since winning his XFC open tryout in 2010, Hicks, a full-time X-ray technician, has picked up three additional wins, including stoppages of Mike Milmerstadt and Shane Crenshaw under the XFC banner. He now meets Holtzman, the hot-sauce aficionado who's stopped every opponent he's faced.
"I'm a fan of the guy," said Hicks, who's giving up both height and reach in the fight. "I think we're going to have great fight, a super exciting fight. I've never met him. I don't think he's talking any trash. If he's a sportsman, I'm a sportsman, and we can have a beer after we fight."
Obviously, a big opportunity awaits the winner. Like tonight's headliners, recently crowned champ Newell (9-0) is unbeaten in his young career. The one-handed MMA fighter recently submitted Bellator vet Eric Reynolds (16-5 at the time) to win the title. It was eighth stoppage in nine career wins and provided further proof that the Massachusetts-based fighter, who was born with a condition called congenital amputation, is anything but a novelty.
With the buzz of Newell's quick rise to prominence still fresh in fans' minds, Hick knows a shot at the champ's title could be a major boost to his own career. Of course, fighting tonight on national television is his first priority.
"Fighting Nick Newell, you know for a fact at least in my case, that'd be my biggest fight yet," Hicks said. "But you have to concentrate on the fight that gets you to him.
"I've done a good job of keeping myself grounded and not looking past Holtzman and not taking that for granted at all."
Hicks, Holtzman and Newell have all cut their teeth with the Florida-based XFC promotion, which has become one of the sport's more dependable regional shows. As the organization expands throughout the Southeast, Hicks has seen some of his fellow XFC fighters develop into legit prospects. And despite the critics who question Newell's ability, Hicks has seen it firsthand.
"I think people make a lot of it (Newell having one hand), maybe more than it is," he said. "If anything, it just creates a different variable. You can't train for that. Obviously, most people don't have a sparring partner or wrestle with someone who has that part of the arm missing.
"I think maybe it's a little bit of a disadvantage, but the guy's what, 9-0? He's undefeated, so I don't think you can (question his ability)."
Of course, to get to Newell, Hicks must first figure out Holtzman. His plan, as always, is to put him away as quickly as possible.
"My main goal in every fight is to get finish," he said. "I never plan to go all three rounds. I never plan to stop moving in there and never stop punching or kicking, 100 percent of the time."
Source: MMAJunkie.com