The grandfather was the head of the notorious Gambino mafia family, the father continued his godfather practices and put himself behind bars. But Jean Gotti III. went any MMA fighter who dreams of a career in the UFC organization.
Friday marks exactly 20 years since John Gotti, one of the world’s most famous godfathers, died of cancer in prison. As his son pursues his gangster career, the 29-year-old grandson attempts to elevate the family’s fame by fighting in the welterweight MMA cage.
“I’m not running away from my own name, on the contrary, I’m trying to find my own way to maintain the family legacy, and I think I’m succeeding so far,” Gotti III let himself go. heard two years ago in an interview with mmmfighting.com.
His grandfather was one of America’s most famous gangsters. Starting out as a car thief and hitman, he worked his way up to the top of the Gambino family over the years. He is said to have personally murdered a neighbor with a chainsaw, who accidentally killed his then twelve-year-old son in a traffic accident. Gotti’s youngest son, John, later succeeded his father as head of the powerful family before ending up in prison himself. John Gotti III however, he avoided the ways of his ancestors.
He doesn’t drink or smoke, even in high school he avoided parties with his classmates so he could watch UFC fights late at night. He started training in mixed martial arts and dreamed of becoming famous in cage fighting like the fighters he watched on TV.
He applied to Bellmore Kickboxing Academy, which has trained a number of famous UFC fighters. “When they saw that I was ready to work hard, that I was serious and that I was going to be a team player, they accepted me with open arms,” he recalls.
His father, who had already been released from prison at the time, was unhappy with his son’s choice of profession. “I went to watch the fight and saw how he was getting beaten, you just don’t want to see that as a dad. It made me physically sick. But then he reversed the fight and won and I saw how happy he was,” said John Gotti Jr.
Due to his criminal past, he was used to a lot of things. “I’ve often fought for my life in courtrooms, but I admit I felt better there than watching my son in MMA,” added the author of my father’s Shadow biography.
The fighter himself didn’t have it easy in the cage and had to deal with prejudice from people who saw him as just another badass. “I’ve always had a target on my back because of my name, my opponents want to stand against me. Journalists always ask about my grandfather and my father. But I’m not ashamed of my name , I fight for that too.” “, reports Gotti III.
He has five victories in the professional organization CES. Two years ago, however, his first loss to Nick Alley came and it set him back on the path to his dream UFC contract. He was supposed to come back and fight again twice last year, but both times he canceled his participation right before.