Tag: John Gotti III

Floyd Mayweather to face John Gotti III, grandson of gangster, in exhibition in June

Floyd Mayweather is scheduled to face John Gotti III, the son of gangster John Gotti, in an exhibition bout in June.

Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this article, John Gotti was described as the son of the late gangster John Gotti. The fighter is his grandson.

The Floyd Mayweather exhibition road show rolls on.

The 46-year-old Hall of Famer is scheduled to face professional boxer and MMA fighter John Gotti III – the grandson of gangster John Gotti – on pay-per-view June 11 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The promotion has been dubbed, “Last Names Matter.”

This will be Mayweather’s seventh exhibition since his last sanctioned bout, fifth within the past year.

He was last in the ring on Feb. 25 in London, when he faced TV star and former MMA fighter Aaron Chalmers in London. He had previously faced Tenshin Nasukawa (2018), Logan Paul (2021), Don Moore (last May), Mikuru Asakura (September) and Deji Olatunji (November).

Gotti, a 30-year-old New Yorker, is 2-0 (1 KO) against raw opponents as a professional boxer, in October and January. He reportedly has a record of 5-1 in MMA.

The elder Gatti was the head of the Gambino crime family in New York. He died of cancer in a hospital for prisoners in 2002.

Musical performers Ozuna and Romeo Santos also will perform on the pay-per-view show.

Mayweather’s last sanctioned bout took place in August 2017, when he stopped UFC star Conor McGregor in 10 rounds. He has said he’s not interested in making a genuine comeback.

[lawrence-related id=36068,35864,35847]

Floyd Mayweather to face John Gotti III, grandson of gangster, in exhibition in June

Floyd Mayweather is scheduled to face John Gotti III, the son of gangster John Gotti, in an exhibition bout in June.

Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this article, John Gotti was described as the son of the late gangster John Gotti. The fighter is his grandson.

The Floyd Mayweather exhibition road show rolls on.

The 46-year-old Hall of Famer is scheduled to face professional boxer and MMA fighter John Gotti III – the grandson of gangster John Gotti – on pay-per-view June 11 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The promotion has been dubbed, “Last Names Matter.”

This will be Mayweather’s seventh exhibition since his last sanctioned bout, fifth within the past year.

He was last in the ring on Feb. 25 in London, when he faced TV star and former MMA fighter Aaron Chalmers in London. He had previously faced Tenshin Nasukawa (2018), Logan Paul (2021), Don Moore (last May), Mikuru Asakura (September) and Deji Olatunji (November).

Gotti, a 30-year-old New Yorker, is 2-0 (1 KO) against raw opponents as a professional boxer, in October and January. He reportedly has a record of 5-1 in MMA.

The elder Gatti was the head of the Gambino crime family in New York. He died of cancer in a hospital for prisoners in 2002.

Musical performers Ozuna and Romeo Santos also will perform on the pay-per-view show.

Mayweather’s last sanctioned bout took place in August 2017, when he stopped UFC star Conor McGregor in 10 rounds. He has said he’s not interested in making a genuine comeback.

[lawrence-related id=36068,35864,35847]

John Gotti III set to fight at CES MMA 65 in first bout since defeat

The grandson of the infamous New York gangster is back.

[autotag]John Gotti III[/autotag] tasted defeat for the first time inside the cage as a professional mixed martial artist when he lost to Nick Alley at CES MMA 61 in October 2020.

Following a canceled April bout, Gotti (5-1) has his next fight scheduled as he’ll take on seasoned veteran [autotag]Aaron Hedrick[/autotag] (10-10) in a welterweight bout at CES MMA 65. The event takes place Sunday, Nov. 7 at Providence Career and Technical Academy in Providence, R.I. The main card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

Gotti, 28, is the son of the infamous New York mobster of the same name. Since his professional debut in October 2017, Gotti has tried to carve out his own legacy as a pro mixed martial artist.

Prior to the recent aforementioned unanimous decision loss to Alley, Gotti was unblemished as a professional. In his first five pro bouts, Gotti won four inside the distance by strikes and one by unanimous decision.

Hedrick is 40 and has struggled to pick up wins in recent years. In his most recent six outings, he’s 1-5. All five of those defeats occurred inside the distance.

The current CES 65 lineup includes:

  • Yorgan De Castro vs. Danyelle Williams
  • John Gotti III vs. Aaron Hedrick
  • Mauro Chaulet vs. Andre Harrison
  • Ashiek Ajim vs. Carlos Espinosa
  • John Douma vs. Tristan Lindi
  • David Bollea vs. Nathan Ghareeb

[vertical-gallery id=390041]

John Gotti III gets next assignment, set to return at CES MMA 62

In October, the grandson of the infamous New York mobster lost for the first time as a professional.

[jwplayer uiwomLbD-FLu19iir]

[autotag]John Gotti III[/autotag] is back.

Coming off a loss for the first time as a professional martial artist, Gotti (5-1) gets the opportunity to rebound April 30 at CES MMA 62 when he takes on [autotag]Jared Chauvin[/autotag] in a welterweight bout, the promotion announced Tuesday. The event takes place at Caribe Royal Orlando in Orlando, Fla., and streams on UFC Fight Pass.

Gotti, the grandson of the infamous New York mobster, was undefeated when he entered CES MMA 61 in October. In his first appearance in nine months, Gotti lost a unanimous decision to New Hampshire’s Nick Alley. The fight was only the second time Gotti went the distance as a pro. Four of his five wins came inside the distance via strikes.

Chauvin (3-2), a competitor from Michigan, is coming off back-to-back losses via TKO. The 35-year-old has two unanimous decision victories and one TKO victory on his resume.

CES MMA 62 is headlined by a pair of 135-pound title eliminators. Diego Silva (12-6) battles Andrew Whitney (16-8). Dinis Paiva (13-8) fights Josh Smith (9-6). The winners will fight on a future card for the CES MMA bantamweight championship.

With the addition, the CES MMA 62 lineup includes:

  • Diego Silva vs. Andrew Whitney
  • Dinis Paiva vs. Josh Smith
  • Marcelo Golm vs. Rahsuan Jackson
  • Jared Chauvin vs. John Gotti III
  • Gary Balletto Jr. vs. Dahlen Watson
  • Ashiek Ahim vs. Carlos Espinosa
  • Hugh McKenna vs. TBA
  • Yuri Panferov vs. Gregory Smith
  • Charlie Radtke vs. Blake Smith
  • James Hay vs. Guilherme Neves

[listicle id=597667]

Combat Rewind, May 31: ‘Your ear is about to fall off’

Check out the best highlights from this day in history with MMA Junkie’s “Combat Rewind.”

There’s “Flashback Friday” and “Throwback Thursday” (and Tuesday, too, if you want). But at MMA Junkie, we figured why not expand that to every day?

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year. It’s a look back at history, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives, featuring stellar finishes and classic moments in MMA and beyond on their anniversaries.

So kick back and relive the following bits of greatness in the video above:

  • EliteXC – Primetime: [autotag]Kimbo Slice[/autotag] vs. [autotag]James Thompson[/autotag] – May 31, 2008
  • Pancrase – Road to the Championship 1: [autotag]Toon Stelling[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Takaku Fuke[/autotag] – May 31, 1994
  • CES MMA 56: [autotag]John Gotti III[/autotag] vs. [autotag]David Espino[/autotag] – May 31, 2019
  • EliteXC – Primetime: [autotag]Matt Makowski[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Nick Serra[/autotag] – May 31, 2008
  • Pancrase – Road to the Championship 1: [autotag]Matt Hume[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Scott Bessac[/autotag] – May 31, 1994
  • XFO 51: [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Lorenzo Hood[/autotag] – May 31, 2014
  • EliteXC – Primetime: [autotag]Brett Rogers[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jon Murphy[/autotag] – May 31, 2008
  • CES MMA 56: [autotag]Nick Newell[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Antonio Castillo Jr[/autotag]. – May 31, 2019

Fight footage courtesy of UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s official digital subscription service, which is currently offering a seven-day free trial. UFC Fight Pass gives fans access to exclusive live UFC events and fights, exclusive live MMA and combat sports events from around the world, exclusive original and behind the scenes content and unprecedented 24-7 access to the world’s biggest fight library.

10 welterweights you can expect to see on Dana White’s Contender Series, Season 4

The return of Dana White’s Contender Series isn’t far off, and here are 10 welterweights who are candidates to appear on the show.

Dana White’s Contender Series has become a destination point for fighters on the regional scene. Since its inception in 2017, the UFC Fight Pass-turned-ESPN+ summer original removed some of the guesswork for up-and-comers trying to make it big.

With UFC president Dana White and matchmakers Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby cageside, the stakes are high. Have an impressive, exciting victory on the show, and you’re in the UFC.

Rumored for a late-June 2020 start date, DWCS Season 4 is almost here. The lineups haven’t been announced yet, but advanced planning is underway. While there are hundreds of fighters qualified to compete on the show, we’ll be narrowing each divisional pool to 10 fighters you should expect to see on the show this summer.

Up next, the welterweights…

***

Image via Australian Fighting Championships (AFC)

Theo Christakos

Record: 11-2
Age: 29
Height: 6’3″
Birthplace: Australia

One of the top pound-for-pound prospects in the Australia/New Zealand regional scene, [autotag]Theo Christakos[/autotag] has quietly built a solid resume. He’s picked up two titles along the way, under the BRACE MMA and Australian FC banners. In his most recent outing at Australian FC 23, Christakos outpointed and submitted fellow up-and-comer Andrew Mills in Round 2. The rear-naked choke win was the sixth of his career by that submission. Win or lose, Christakos has only seen the judges’ scorecards once in his pro career. A do-or-die fighter? Sounds like Christakos fits the DWCS mold.

Image CES MMA

Vinicius de Jesus

Record: 9-2
Age: 30
Height: 5’10”
Birthplace: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The current CES MMA welterweight champion and a Bellator veteran, [autotag]Vinicius de Jesus[/autotag] presents a lot of problems for fighters of all skillsets. A third-generation Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he usually sticks to his striking, which consists largely of power shots from the outside and heavy leg kicks. He holds legitimate wins over Jeremiah Wells, Tim Caron, James Boran, and Chris Lozano. He’s only lost once sine 2013 – a controversial split decision defeat at the hands of Joaquin Buckley. De Jesus’ knockout power, combined with his mic skills, makes him a prime candidate to be a target of DWCS.

More fighters on the next page:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

John Gotti III wants two more fights before UFC consideration, focused on improvement

Dana White tweeted about his fight Friday night, but John Gotti III still thinks improvement is needed before the UFC calls.

LINCOLN, R.I. – CES MMA 60 marked the first time [autotag]John Gotti III[/autotag] went the distance in his professional career. In fact, it was the first time he had competed in a fight that lasted longer than four minutes. His five other fights combined for 6 minutes and 26 seconds of in-cage time.

On Friday night, facing his most experienced opponent to date, Marcos Lloreda, Gotti (5-0) overcame adversity for the first time in his MMA career. Lloreda (7-6) proved to be a stiff test and put the grandson of the infamous mobster in some tough spots. With the masses in the arena behind him, Gotti was able to rally and pull off a unanimous decision victory.

“To be honest, I’m not really happy with it,” Gotti told MMA Junkie. “The layoff kind of killed me. The last time I fought was May 31. It was a minute-and-thirty-seconds fight. Marcos had four fights in eight months. He has 13 fights against my four. It was a big step up in competition for me.

“I felt pretty rusty in there. It was a tough fight, too. I just had to dig deep and show my heart.”

While he wasn’t thrilled by his performance, Gotti sees some upside. He was able to utilize more of his skills and figure out what he needs to improve on going forward.

“They always come and joke, ‘Oh, the fight was so quick,'” Gotti said. “Well, now you got a three-round war out of me. Now you see what I’ve got inside. It’s good to silence those people.

“(I could improve on) my composure (and) listening to my coaches more. … I was worried about the little things that will be corrected with more time in the cage. I can’t take these layoffs.”

[lawrence-related id=483531,411676]

In the minutes leading up to the fight, UFC president Dana White sent out a tweet promoting Gotti’s bout on UFC Fight Pass. Gotti saw the tweet just moments before he was set to make the walk.

“No pressure, right?” Gotti said. “I’m sitting there getting my hands wrapped and I see that. Now if I lose, I’m going to feel like the biggest embarrassment on the planet. It was nice of him to do that and get that kind of exposure.”

Despite being on the UFC boss’ radar, Gotti isn’t interested in making the jump to the big leagues at this point in time. Improvement is the name of the game. In the 27-year-old welterweight’s mind, he’ll need to advance his skillset if he wants to hang in the big leagues.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Gotti said. “Once I sharpen up these areas, we’ll be ready for that next step. The sky is the limit. We’ll just keep progressing.

“I want to definitely improve my game a little more. Maybe I’ll fight for a belt here. Give me one or two more fights and then we’ll make that next step.”

CES MMA 60 took place at Twin River Casino. The main card streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

John Gotti III overcomes toughest test, remains undefeated at CES 60

At CES 60, John Gotti III picked up his fifth pro win – but it didn’t come easy.

LINCOLN, R.I. – [autotag]John Gotti III[/autotag] is five-for-five.

The grandson of the infamous mobster, Gotti III (5-0) saw the judges’ scorecards for the first time in his career at CES 60 on Friday. The undefeated New York-based welterweight edged out an unanimous decision over Marcos Lloreda (7-6), taking the win with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27.

A back-and-forth affair saw Gotti overcome adversity in his longest pro fight to date. A back-and-forth first round was largely contested on the feet. Florida’s Lloreda didn’t shy away from the power puncher.

Gotti’s ground game was publicly put on display for the first time in Round 2. Escaping a handful of submission attempts from Lloreda, Gotti was able to get the fight back to the feet. From there, Gotti landed a hard punch. When Lloreda attempted a flying knee, he leapt over Gotti’s back. The action landed with Gotti on top.

Both men were visibly exhausted in Round 3. After he grabbed a hold of Lloreda, Gotti mustered the fight to the ground. Working from the back, Gotti lost position and was eventually mounted. With the raucous crowd behind him, Gotti rallied to regain control before the fight’s end.

[lawrence-related id=411676,360660]

Gotti, 26, ran through his first four opponents to date with relative ease. Training under UFC veteran Ryan LaFlare at Long Island MMA, Gotti had passed each test via TKO or knockout – but not at CES 60.

CES 60 took place at Twin River Casino. The main card streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

[vertical-gallery id=391998]

John Gotti III booked for fifth pro bout at CES MMA 60 in Rhode Island

A grandson of the infamous gangster, John Gotti puts his undefeated record on the line at CES 60.

[autotag]John Gotti III[/autotag] is set to compete in his fifth professional MMA fight.

A grandson of the infamous gangster with the same name, Gotti (4-1) puts his undefeated record on the line when he takes on [autotag]Marcos Lloreda[/autotag] (7-5) at CES MMA 60.

The two were scheduled to meet at CES 59 in October, but Gotti suffered an infection that forced him out of the fight.

The promotion also has announced a five-round fight for the vacant 125-pound title. Johnny Lopez (12-4) takes on Blaine Shutt (7-4) for the flyweight strap.

CES 60 takes place Jan. 24 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. The main card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

[lawrence-related id=411676,360660]

Gotti, a 26-year-old welterweight, has run through all four of his opponents to date with relative ease. Training under UFC veteran Ryan LaFlare at Long Island MMA, Gotti has passed each test via TKO or knockout.

In his most recent outing at CES 56 in May, Gotti defeated opponent David Espino in 96 seconds. The New Yorker has yet to reach the second round, with his longest bout lasting 3:50.

His opponent, American Top Team’s Lloreda, has picked up three victories in his four most recent contests. In October, Lloreda defeated Sanad Armouti by unanimous decision. Out of his seven professional victories, Lloreda has earned five finishes and two decisions.