LAS VEGAS – Nick Newell doesn’t really let things get to his head.

That is one of the reasons Newell believes he’s been able to have so many wins – 14 in his professional MMA career. It’s also the mentality that he brings into the featured lightweight bout of Dana White’s Contender Series 14 on Tuesday.

“I don’t make a big deal out of anything,” Newell (14-1) told MMAjunkie after weighing in to meet Alex Munoz (4-0). “But obviously stakes for this are pretty high, and it’s a fight that could change my life. I realize that and I realized that in preparation for this fight, and I did everything I could.”

As far as those stakes go, there’s a pretty obvious one: Newell has a shot at winning a UFC contract. And while other fighters have been in his position before, it’s not just Newell’s impressive, finish-rich record that’s made him stand out among his competition.

Newell is a congenital amputee whose left arm ends just below his elbow. That hasn’t stopped the former wrestler from being a high-level MMA competitor. His lone loss came to UFC standout and then-WSOF champ Justin Gaethje. But for a while, there were questions as to whether he’d ever have his octagon shot.

Newell even stepped away from the sport for a couple of years, but an impressive win upon his return – followed by a powerful statement – led to something close: a DWCS spot. Now 32, Newell enters it enjoying some serious support from fans and the MMA community.

Newell may not be one to make a big deal out of things – but, for some people, that’s just what this is. And, for Newell, that boils down to the fact that even those who can’t relate to what makes him physically different, they can relate to what he represents.

“The thing is: Obviously, you can see, I only have one hand,” Newell said. “And people can kind of relate to me, I think – that I’m just like a normal guy. I’m not mean-mugging people, I’m not acting tough. I’m just a guy who loves what he does and works hard.

“I wear my differences on my sleeve, but the thing is everyone is different. Everyone has a struggle that they’re facing. Some you can see, some you can’t see. But you can see mine, so people relate to me. I feel like that’s why people like me and that’s why I get so much support.”

Stepping onto the DWCS stage, Newell has the same goal as everyone else: to earn a UFC contract. And that, as we know from the show’s history, is very intimately tied with not only coming out with a win, but making it an emphatic, preferably quick one.

Newell’s record offers some encouragement when it comes to that: Of his 14 wins, 11 are first-round finishes. Still, the 32-year-old fighter is not putting any added pressure on himself to make Tuesday’s meeting a quick one. The goal is to win – and Newell is not about to let eagerness to impress open room for mistakes.

“I’m going to just kick his ass. That’s it,” Newell said.

Whether that will lead to him getting signed is something Newell isn’t thinking too much about. While he doesn’t bank on his record, it also serves as testament to the fact that he’s got plenty of ways of winning – and that, when he does it, it’s “usually pretty impressive.”

“And if I win and they don’t give me a contract – I don’t know, I think the Internet is going to flip out,” Newell said. “Kind of a lot people that support me.

“I’m just here to win. I’m not worried about anything else. I’ve been judged my whole life in people’s opinions and I’m just here to perform and just do what I do, and that’s fight, and win.”

In any case, the improvements that Newell has been able to constantly make in his training as he heads into his 16th professional fight make him ready and confident that “I’m going to have a lot of people talking about me” after Tuesday.

And if that conversation takes a turn for the inspirational?

“Being an inspiration, or not being an inspiration, or if people look up to you – that’s not something you can force,” Newell said. “That’s not something you can want. You can’t be like, ‘Hey, I’m going to go inspire some people.’ It doesn’t work like that. You just have to be yourself and you just have to do what you do. If people choose to be inspired by what you’re doing or look to you as a role model, then that’s the way it is. If I came out here and I was like, ‘I’m going to prove this, I’m going to prove that,’ that’s corny to me.

“I’m just a regular guy, following his dream, and I happen to be a little different. But I never let it stop me from doing the things I want to do. And if people are inspired by that, then yeah. I don’t think that my hand is what makes me different. I think that my heart is what makes me different. And when I go out there, I show it every time, and I’m going to show it tomorrow night.”

For more on Dana White’s Contender Series 14, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.