Warrior 1: Khatib VS Newton
By: Christina Sears
searstina@hotmail.com
After a year of brainstorming and planning Warrior 1 (W1) is digging their hands into the MMA circuit putting on their first show this Saturday at the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau Quebec.
W1 president Jack Bateman describes the organization as a “fighter’s promotion” explaining to me that he wants it all to be about the fighters who will be fighting in the organization. He describes the style of the show as Japan meeting North America.
Headlining this weekend’s card is Carlos “The Ronin” Newton, who is a veteran of the cage and is known for his fights in not only the U.F.C but also Pride, and K-1. Carlos at one time was a force to be reckoned with but fell off the fight scene since his fight in October of 2007. This will be Newton’s first time in 13 years fighting in his home country of Canada since his MMA debut in 1996.
“Newton is one of the most naturally gifted fighters on the planet and has the ability to beat any top fighter. He has been at the top of the sport and is hoping to get back to that level. From talking to Carlos, his main goal is to leave an even bigger legacy” says Alex 
Caporicci the W1 Matchmaker.
His opponent Nabil “The Thrill” Khatib started fighting in professional mixed martial arts (MMA) when he was 36, and in that time he has fought some tough guys including Gideon Ray who like Newton has the experience fighting within the cage of the UFC.
“Nabil Khatib is a model professional and an asset to any show. Nabil has proved that he is one of the top welterweights in the country and has never shied away from a tough fight. He is a world class striker and is a strong purple belt under BTT Canada’s Fabio Holanda” says Caporicci.
Khatib started fighting professionally in MMA because he felt that it was growing a hundred times faster then kickboxing and like most people he had been following it since the early days of the UFC.
With a record of 8-4, 39 year old Khatib feels he has a good chance of beating Newton he says he doesn’t feel like the underdog for this 
fight. He says he’s not changing the way he trains because you never know who you’re going to get in the cage, and he likes to be prepared in all aspects.
When Khatib got the call at a chance to fight Carlos Newton he thought to himself “WOW”, and knew fighting a former UFC champion and Pride star would be a good fight for him and “a lot of fun.” Khatib will be the home town kid for this fight, he feels it’s a great opportunity for him to put on a good fight against someone who has been in this sport for a long time and has fought some of the best people. He feels that Newton is very skilled on the ground, and has good hands but doesn’t feel he uses them enough.
“Before he made his MMA debut one of the first things Nabil mentioned to me was that he would one day like to fight a legend like Carlos Newton. I’m happy to say I helped make that happen for him” says Caporicci.
If you haven’t got your tickets just yet you can do so on the Warrior 1 website:
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August 31, 2011 at 2:07 pm
What a super cool concept Christina. How did you get into this line of work? Congrats on your show and good luck to all the W1 participants.