Sports
Long Islander Flexes New Arm Wrestling League
The founder of the Urban Arm Wrestling League wants to infuse hip-hop culture into a niche sport that he said is underrepresented on LI.
WYANDANCH, NY — Gerren Nixon has been fascinated by the fringe of sport of arm wrestling ever since he saw the iconic Sylvestor Stallone movie "Over the Top" as a child in 1987. It wasn't until two years ago, however, that the Wyandanch resident became aware of the sport as an opportunity to use his event promotion background to grow a business and contribute to charitable causes.
Nixon founded the Urban Arm Wrestling League in 2019. The league hosts arm wrestling trainings, qualifying tournaments and a championship series, with portions of entry fees earmarked for Long Island charities and his own Wyandanch High School scholarship fund.
Nixon told Patch his first tournament, held in Patchogue last year, attracted arm wrestlers — known as "pullers" — from various states but not as many from Long Island as he expected. Now he wants to grow the sport's presence locally. He created a Long Island team to compete nationally and raise the sport's visibility in the Black community.
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"There are only a few Black arm wrestlers in the sport," he said.
He sees his league as an opportunity to grow the sport by bringing in the Black community and culture. His tournaments — temporarily being held outside New York because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions — feature music, DJs and a fun, party atmosphere that he says people are welcoming.
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Many pullers in Nixon's league have bodybuilding backgrounds or are retired athletes from a range of sports. They compete in male and female weight classes and pay entrance fees to compete. Nixon said he takes a portion out to award to charity. He created a scholarship fund for three Wyandanch High School students in honor of three of his mentors who succumbed to COVID-19 last year.
"Without them I'd probably be on the streets," he reflected.
Nixon is looking forward to hosting more events on Long Island after the pandemic and growing the sport.
"It's a thriving sport across the country, but it's not as big yet in New York as we think it could be," he said.
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