MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 28 | Germaine de Randamie & John Gotti III

Episode Date: October 8, 2020

Check out episode 28 of What the Heck as Mike Heck speaks with No. 1 ranked women's bantamweight contender Germaine de Randamie (6:12) to discuss her third-round submission win over Julianna Pena at UFC Fight Island 4, a potential rematch with Holly Holm, and what she is willing to put at stake if she were to face Amanda Nunes one more time. Also, unbeaten welterweight prospect John Gotti III (39:36) previews his upcoming fight with Nick Alley on Oct. 14 in the main event of CES 61, talks what he learned from his last fight, his family lineage, and what a win in his next fight could potentially lead to. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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What the heck? Well, hello there, everybody. Welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a great week. And this is going to be an interesting show. heading into UFC Fight Island 5. Of course, we're coming off of UFC Fight Island 4 this past Saturday.

Holly Holm had a huge win over Arlene, Aldana, and the main event. We talked all about that. On our post-fight show, we had Loris Sanko joining us, so you want to get our thoughts on that main event and the ins and outs of that card. We talked about it a lot on the post-fight show. We talked about it a little bit more in depth with some of the lower on the card fights and performances on between the links as well. So you can go back into the archives, whether it be on the YouTube channel or on the podcast network, and you can get our thoughts on that.

We will talk a little bit more about UFC Fight Island four this week on the show. But just a quick explanation, because if you look at past episodes of what the heck, they were a little more loaded, right? We had four, five, sometimes six, seven guests on the program. This week, you may have noticed we only have two. And there's an explanation for that because we did have more. We did have Alex Hernandez, who was getting ready to fight Chris Gritzmacher on October 31st. He was going to join us on the program. But funny thing happened.

Typical New England day here in Massachusetts as we record this, it is Wednesday night. And I am not in Command Center 2.0. I am actually in my mother-in-law's kitchen. And the reason for that is we had a very interesting day here in New England in October. drove my kid to school around 805 this morning, Eastern Standard Time. Sunny day, beautiful outside, ready to have a nice, sunshiny day. As the day progressed, got a little cloudier. Lunchtime happened, sun was out again, and it got cloudy around 1 or 2 o'clock.

And then all of a sudden, the power just goes out in my house. And then I look across the street, all neighborhoods out. Then I walk down around the block, everybody's out. Like literally everybody's out. And we're still out hours later. So as I'm recording this open, it is around 8.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Still no power.

So luckily, my mother-in-law, God bless her, has power, working Wi-Fi. So I'm here doing these opening video parts and segments and all that stuff that you would normally get and it would flow altogether. But we were supposed to talk to Alex Hernandez to make it a three guest show. That is not the case this week because we lost power.

we are going to talk to Alex Hernandez on Thursday. We're also going to talk to James Krause on Thursday, who's getting ready to fight Claudio Silva next Saturday at UFC Fight Island 6, I think we're calling it, but you know what car is. I mean, it's the one headline by Brian Ortega versus the Korean zombie. So we're going to have a two guest show. We're going to do three and no more than that, mostly because we did 19 media day scrums.

Joseo and Abu Dhabi for UFC Fight Allen 5, everybody from Marl Maris to Corey Sanhagan, a bunch of the prelim fighters as well. Those scrums are all over our YouTube page. So we didn't want things to just get completely buried, but we have two very fascinating interviews to get to on the program. So it'll be short and sweet because there's a lot going on in the world. We also have some stuff from the Bellator Media Day. Of course, they're in Paris, France on Saturday.

Czech Congo versus Tim Johnson is headlining, I guess one part of that cover. And then Belleter 249 is headlined by Michael Venom Page taking on Ross Houston. So we have some scrums from MVP from Ross Houston up there. So I believe Mads Burnell may be up there as well. So check those out and get ready for a pretty busy and packed up weekend of mixed martial arts action. Well, let's run down the lineup, going off the top of the dome, just making this happen because I have Wi-Fi, I have power. and with the weather and everything being so inconsistent, I guess.

Mother Nature is doing this to us. We're going to get right into this and get right out of it because I don't want to lose power here as well. So later on in the program, wrapping us up, we're going to talk to John Gotti the 3rd. Yes, John Gotti, third, undefeated fighter. Of course, he is the grandson of the infamous mob boss, John Gotti. He's got a big fight coming up next Wednesday, October 14th. It's got a headline CES 61 that's going to stream. exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.

Going to take on New England's Nick Alley should be one hack of a scrap. Those two guys are finishers. Nick Alley has never gone to the judge's scorecard, win or lose. So that should be a fun scrap. First time I've ever had the chance to talk to John Gotti the third one-on-one like this. So you'll hear that later on in the program. But kicking us off. Speaking of UFC Fight Island 4, what a win.

What a performance for Jermaine Durandami. She doesn't just beat Julieta Pena. She puts her to sleep. And she put her to sleep with punches and kicks. She put her to sleep with a guillotine choke. Jermaine Duranmi, first submission win of her entire career. And she gave me about 30 minutes of her time. And I got to tell you, she gets a lot of crap.

And I just don't understand it because what a joy it is to talk to somebody as positive as Jermaine Duranami, the inaugural UFC Women's Featherweight Champion. And she has some interesting things to say, especially when it comes to her career, where she stands. and what would happen if she were to get another opportunity to fight Amanda Nunes for the 135 pound, maybe even the 145 pound title should that opportunity arise. So kicking us off this week, the Iron Lady, now the submission machine. Here she is, Germain Durandami. All right, we have one of the shining stars of UFC Fight Island 4 this past Saturday night. And a very important fight in the women's 135 pound division.

Jermaine Durandami submits Giuliana Pena in the third round, put her to sleep with the nasty guillotine, and now the submission machine herself is joining us on the show. Jermaine, how are you with the new nickname and everything? Well, I love the new nickname. I'm doing great. Yeah, I'm doing great. I'm happy to be home, but I had a great time in Abu Dhabi.

I had an amazing time in Abu Dhabi. I'm doing good. What did you think of that whole situation? Because obviously, it's a very trying time. around the world right now. It's a very unique circumstance with the UFC just venturing off to Abu Dhabi just to get the international fighters on these cards. You seem like you had a good time, but what did you make of the whole setup and the bubble and everything they did to make sure that the fighters were safe throughout this whole process? Well, in the beginning, I was like,

this is so weird because you have such limited space for yourself to go. You know, and normally when we go into Fight Week, you know, we go and exploring everywhere we can play. possibly go. But this time that was not possible. But I kind of liked it because it kept it very small and you know, you keep the focus, but you still enjoy the time you have. And I have to say, they did an amazing job and they took amazingly great care of us. You know, I cannot say anything less about it. And the good thing I liked about is that everything went a lot of faster during fight nights morning and morning. What was the time difference between where you are in the Netherlands to Abu Dhabi.

Because I know for the American fighters, it was like a huge difference. What was the difference like for you? Only two hours. So Abu Dhabi is two hours later than it is here in the Netherlands. So it was not that much. Oh, so that was like a nice little advantage for you. But we only had to make your small adjustments in the trainings in the early mornings. But I'm an early morning person.

So, you know, I was good with it. There you go. So first submission win of your career and nobody saw that coming. the odds makers had at a plus 2,300 that you had finished the fight by submission, but it just goes to show you that in this sport, evolution never stops. How does it all feel a few days later to not just get a win, but to show the world that you still have some tricks up your sleeve? You know, I always say everybody.

I'm 36 years old, you know, and I've been fighting for a very long time, but I love this game so much. So, you know, I don't want to learn and I want to become better. And, yeah, I have to say, it's nice knocking somebody out because, you know, that's what I love to do. But this one is very special, very special to me. And this one, I will stay forever close to my heart, I have to say. You know, especially because in my last fight, of course, with Amanda, you know,

I didn't do so well on the ground. And I know I'm better than what I've shown. And, you know, and I still made a lot of mistakes, you know. But there's always space to learn. And, you know, I got the submission. And that was a beautiful crown on this, this beautiful memory. on our on our post fight show we actually invited laura sanco on and you know she she obviously has some insight being a former professional fighter she still trains consistently and she was super impressed

by the submission because the execution of that choke was spot on she said i believe her exact words were that wasn't blue belt stuff this was like high level submission stuff and it's clearly something that you've had in your repertoire for quite some time but we just haven't had a chance to see it do you think that you open up a lot of eyes on saturday night that You sent a nice little message to not just Amanda Nunes, but the rest of your division being like, don't try to go to the ground with me because I might get a little sneaky on you. It always opens up ice, you know, and it was more, the more important thing is for me, it finally all settles in, you know, because in the second round, I almost had the full flu choke.

My coaches coached me through very well. And I know I almost had her there, but, you know, and then we worked a lot on that submission. And from that position, because a lot of times when, and we saw that in my fight with Amanda Nunes, Amanda shot very low on the legs. And, you know, from that position on, you know, it's easy when I can wrap my arm. I have pretty long arms. So, you know, if I can wrap my arms around it, you know, it's going to be stuck. And at the moment, I slipped her head to the other side to put my arm through.

I was like, I'm not letting go. This is mine. I'm not letting go. The first round, you were able to thwart Julie. Juliana's game plan for most of the round. You were able to keep your distance. You were lending big shots on the feet. She was able to get you down in like the final seconds.

And then the second round, she got you down again and probably won that round. Like you said, you did lock in the Vaughn Flu. It was pretty tight, but you weren't able to finish there. But it seemed like heading into the third, it was one to one. So what was the conversation like with your coaches between the second and third rounds? Well, they told me, you know, and I knew at the end of round, too. I knew I lost that round. And they told me, go have fun.

And we, in the locker room, we had one thing and we discussed. And we were like, if it's tied after the second round or I'm behind, we're just going to have fun. We go, you know, and I'm like, so right before the referee says, fight, one of my friends, one of my training partners, and she says, Jermaine, it's the third round. It's time to have some fun. And I'm like, okay, because I knew I had to put pressure on her. I knew I had to land more than her, but I still had to be careful, you know, because. because I didn't want to, because I knew if she was able to take me down,

she was going to ride it out on top, and it's going to be boring. And she was not going to take any risk because of the reverse I made in the second round at the end of the round. So I knew I had to be careful, but I knew I had to put a little bit more pressure. And I felt a little bit tight, like I said, after the fight. I felt a little bit tight the whole fight. And, you know, I wasn't as lose as I wanted to be and totally more combinations. but, you know, I just wanted to pressure her and, you know, wherever the fight goes, it goes, you know.

I mean, I see a lot of, you know, some, I don't, I'm a very positive person and I don't like to read any negative stuff. And I've seen some very negative stuff about Juliana about after this fight. And, you know, the thing I do want to say to people is, man, that girl deserves a lot of credit. I mean, she's one tough, one tough warrior. You know, she, it was a right or die, and she died. that way, you know, she never gave up, and she brought the fight. So all props are, and mad respect for her because, man, she did that. And I gave her some tough shots. I can tell you that. Yeah, did anything surprise you at all from Giuliana? Because like you said,

she did eat a lot of big shots. She even landed a few of her own in the fight, which I think surprised a lot of people. Did it go according to plan? I know you were a little bit tight. You weren't as loose as you would have liked to have been, but were there things that Julianna did in the fight that you didn't expect? Well, I didn't. expected her to throw a lot of punches to try to shoot, you know, and because in the second round, she tried to bum rush me with a lot of punches, and I'm like, okay, we're really going to make this, you know, a dirty boxing match because I love to. So that surprised me in a way, but I was cautious about it because I knew she was going to do that to set up the tape down,

because I know she did that in her previous fights a couple times, throw a lot of, punches and then shoot for the takedown. So I knew I had to be careful and didn't let my, I didn't, how can I explain that the best way? I didn't want to get involved too much in it and let myself go because then I was going to be flat-footed. And I know that was the one thing I should not do in this fight. The mistake that I made in Amanda's, the fight with Amanda to be flat-footed,

I wanted to stay light and I had to be able to move back. So, but, and I mean, she's a tough girl. that I had no doubt about it, but she's tough. Matt respect to her. She's stuff. So you have now won six out of your last seven. You've beaten everybody you fought in the UFC, not named Amanda Nunes. You're the number one ranked Bannamake contender. But you just fought a man in December, and you know how the UFC is.

They like to keep things fresh. So that puts you in a really interesting spot because you've clearly earned a title shot here, but you may have to win another fight maybe two before that happens in this current landscape. is a little frustrating to be where you are knowing that you are there, but you can't really go anywhere at the moment? No, no, not at all. No, not at all, you know. I love fighting, and I don't care. I could care less about rankings. I honestly do, you know, and if you want to fight for the title, you have to earn that spot. And maybe one good performance doesn't get you that title shot right away. I'm still ranked number one in the world. And it's my job to still. rank number one in the world. These are tough times, man. I mean, we're blessed that we can fight

and that the UFC makes it possible for us to do what we love to do. You know, so if I have to fight two more times, it's up to me to stay the number one contender in the world and to prove I belong there and I'm still the number one. And you know what the funniest thing is? Because earlier this morning, I was thinking about it. I'm like, you know, Amanda and I, we both

came in the beginning in the era when Ronda Rousey came to the U.C. Amanda and I were both we both came in, we were both signed in that time of time frame and we're still on top of the game. I mean, years, years later,

so many have come and have passed. And Holly came, I think, a year or less later, but the three of us were still in it on top of this game, on top of the division. I thought it was pretty cool. You know, I was thinking about it.

I'm like, damn, we don't do that bad for these oldies, you know? We've been here for long from these girls, and, well, we don't do that bad. Well, you mentioned Holly, and in the main event, she had a great win over Ardini Aldana. Did you get a chance to watch that fight? What did you think of Holly's performance? I honestly, I had no chance in watching it because I had to do some interviews, and then I had to go do some photos. So I didn't have a chance to watch it.

So I don't know. I heard people told me she did a great fight, so mad respect to her. But also for Adana, I mean, she's also a tough girl, you know, two tough girls facing each other. Mad respect to both of them. Yeah, Al Dada was super tough because Holly was landing at will and she had a lot of kicks and a lot of punches. It was pretty mesmerizing to see. But it seems like that everybody wants to see the rematch between you and Holly now. It seems like the stars are aligning. And of course, you ladies fought for the featherweight title at UFC 208.

you got the win, but that night kind of began this strange relationship with the fans because of how that fight played out in the aftermath, et cetera. Are you interested in running this back with Holly, even though you already beat her? Because it seems like this is the fight everybody wants to see now. You know, that's always an option. It's always an option. You know, I mean, you know, I'm open to fight everybody. You know, I'm just, I just want to put up an exciting fight and give the fans what they deserve, you know, and make it fun.

You know, I want to fight everybody. That's the thing. I want to fight everybody. So everybody is an option at this moment. Do you feel that a fight like that can finally help you and the fans move on a little bit from that whole thing? Because I feel like this happened so long ago and the sport moves so quickly that we oftentimes forget about things that happened a couple of years ago. But it seems like in your situation between that whole thing with UFC 208, the cyborg thing, whatever, do you feel like if you go in there, you run it back with Holly, beat her convincing? we can we could finally move on from all of this negativity. Well, I already moved on a time ago, but hey, whatever.

You know, honestly, that's not something that's on my mind. If I have, I honestly believe I don't have to prove anything to anybody, you know. Like I said, I am in this because I love it. And I have a bunch, a lot of amazing fans still standing behind me and supporting me, you know. And there's always people that will say or disagree with things, you know, or have something to say about it. And that's okay. Everybody is entitled to have their own opinion. You know, so like I said, I don't have to prove that to anybody.

And it's an option. You know, and we will see what the future brings. If Holly and I will meet again, we'll meet again, you know, time will tell and the UFC will tell. And, you know, it's not up to me. You know, we will see. It is not easy, especially now, to be as positive as you are, Jermaine. And that was like one of the reasons I wanted to have you on here, not just to talk about the wind, because you are a very positive presence.

Have you always been like that? Or is this something that you've sort of grown to do over the years with wisdom comes extra positivity? You know what I mean? I honestly, I believe I think with wisdom comes extra positivity. And, you know, I have bad days too. You know, I have bad days too. Everybody has him, you know. I can be grumpy, absolutely.

But, you know, I start to, you know, with my job and the things that go on sometimes in life and not my life, but just in life in general, you know, it's so, it's so, it takes so much energy if you are a negative person, you know, because there can always be something negative or to complain about. But why not enjoy the things you have, the things we have, the things we are able to do? because we're blessed that we're able to do the things we can do. And I believe that there are people that don't always have that positive. And maybe if they see somebody smile, maybe they get a little bit of a smile. You know, I mean, a smile is very expensive, but it's at the same time so priceless. You never know what a smile can do to a person. You know, so make the best out of it.

I mean, make the best out of life. Because life is so damn short. You better enjoy what you're doing. You know, because there's a lot of things you can control in life. The only thing you can control is how you react on a situation. So make out of something negative, try to make something positive because there's always something positive. You know, one time a person asks me, so what's the positive thing if I shit my pants? And I'm like, yeah, that's a good one.

Well, at least you lost it. You know, you dropped it. I don't have to do the shit anymore. And he's like, well, if you look at it like that way, I mean, yeah. I mean, it sucks when you have to take shit, but man, okay, well, now it's out. Now it's out. So, yeah, I just like to think, you know, I just want to stay positive and stay true to myself and, you know, share with people that there's a lot of things in life to love. I used to be a nurse, a psychiatric nurse, and I've seen very, very sick people in a way, you know, and these people didn't ask.

to be this sick. And they didn't have always. They didn't all have joy in life. Sometimes, some felt very horrible, you know, and it doesn't help to be that negative, you know. Give him something to smile about it. Give a person something to smile. You know, you never know the person you cross on the street. If you smile at them, what that smile of yours to them means to them. So make the best out of it. Well said. Well said. And clearly, you know, you took a lot from the Amanda fight because, you know, you weren't overly thrilled with your performance. You've talked about it in the media, but the positive spin, you feel like that you exposed Amanda. Like, it was pretty interesting to hear you. Why do you feel that way? And do you feel like the positivity

that you have helped you get past the Amanda fight and onto this next one? Because it seems like those two sort of are hand in hand in a way. Is that accurate? Yeah, well, I believe honestly, I believe positivity. And self-reflection helped me go past this fight. Because it's very, you know, it's very easy to point fingers at people. But the only finger I point, first of all, was at myself. What could I have done differently in this fight? And I knew right away.

I knew. So there was no reason to point at anybody. The only person I had to point at was myself. And then it sucks losing. but there's always a tomorrow. The sun will come up tomorrow. And I didn't change this person because I lost. Yeah, it sucks.

I mean, and you always get those awkward conversations. Then the person asks you, so how did you fight go? Well, I lost. And then a person would like, okay, sorry. Yep. Don't be sorry.

It's part of life. You know, there's nothing you can do about it. It is what it is. So that's the only sucky part about losing those awkward comforts. And it sucks. You know, I don't like losing, but it's also sometimes it's a good lesson because I've learned so much about myself and the mistakes I've made.

And that helped me in this fight camp to change my, not my attitude, but in a way it changed my attitude because I look at things differently. And the things that I, because I can be very stubborn in some way during fighting, you know, No, I want to bang. I want to bang. I want to bang. And sometimes it's not just, I just want to bang. Sometimes you just got to fight, you know, and do what the game plan is. And it was good because in this fight camp, I really stick through what I should do.

This is the game plan. This is the way I want to fight. And even though in the second round, I abandoned the game plan a little bit, you know, in the first round, I already made progress because I showed I can stick to things. You know, I can stay light on the feet. I don't have to be flat-footed. Just be disciplined about it. So, yeah.

And, I mean, it's not, you know, it sucks, but, you know, I didn't lose to nobody. You know, I lost to somebody with a very high fight IQ and a great champion. So all respect to Amanda Nunes. So Saturday night was, had some first for you. We talked about getting the first submission, but you got your first bonus in over four years. You knocked out Aspen Ladd. in 16 seconds and didn't even get a bonus. This one did it for you, the submission machine.

That's what it takes to get a bonus, I guess. How does it feel to get that extra 50 Gs and get that confidence of the UFC in order to get that honor? You know, honestly, oh, something went, sorry. There you go. You know, yeah, of course, everybody wants to have that bonus. And it's so funny because before the fight,

I didn't interview and I said, I want that bonus. You know, I want that bonus this time. And, you know, I didn't get it with the Aspen lead fight, but that's okay. You know, the bonus is cool because Christmas is coming up, so I can spoil my, can't spoil everybody. So that's good. I'm happy, you know, and I'm opening my new gym together with one of my coaches in January. So, you know, it's good. It's always good when you're doing a lot of construction work to get an extra bonus.

You know, and I appreciate it a lot. So, yeah, I'm happy with it. Absolutely. That's great. When did this all start to get this gym going? Where is it going to be? And this is exciting stuff. Yeah. So the gym's going to be in my hometown, Utrecht. So it all started like after the Amanda Nunes fight, I think. So my coach, which I used to train with, we used to be training partners and now he's one of my coaches.

He said, you got to do something with your talent. you know and I'm like yeah but you know it I was like yeah yeah he says why don't we just work together and I'm like okay that sounds and he's an amazing coach he has so many great fighters and more and more fighters come come to train with us and and we had the same vision so at first started talking about how our vision is about how a gym should be and what what we want people to have when they enter the gym and our visions were absolutely the same.

And then he told me, you got to do something with your talent. And I'm like, yeah, I don't know. And he was like, why don't we work together? And I looked at him and I'm like, you want to work together with me? And he was like, I would love to work together with you. And I'm like, well, we have the same vision. We have the same views about things.

Why not, yeah, why not put our strengths together? And give something new, the new talent. Because Boxing is huge here in Holland, but MMA is the next big thing. You know, so why not, why not do it? Why not give it a try? So we started looking at buildings and we found a gorgeous building, huge.

And we were like, this is it. Let's go. And so we're now doing a lot of constructions. And yeah, January 1st, we're opening the door. So it's going to be one hell of a new journey to add to all the busy things I'm already doing. Wow, congratulations to both of you. That's amazing. Do you have a name for the gym yet?

Yeah, it will be S-Bay Gym slash Iron Lady. Oh, there you go. There you go. You might have to change Iron Lady to a submission machine, but... That's easy to do. Easy construction. I know you always call your mom after the fights. You guys have...

You've such a close-close relationship with her. What was that conversation like with her after the win? Well, so I called her when I was in the cage. I'm like, mom, mom, you're not going to believe this. I submitted her. But I choked her out. And she'd be like, is she okay? Is she okay?

And I'm like, oh, let me take a look. She's away, mom. She's like, oh, my God. Is she okay? Wasn't it too long? I'm like, no. But I'm going to call you back. Call you back later, right?

She's like, okay, okay, okay. So I called it back later. And she's like, because people already sent her the clip of the submission. And she was like, she was out that long. Is she okay? I'm like, Mom, she's okay. She's okay. The doctors will take good care of it.

She's okay. And she was like, okay. Why didn't she dad? I'm like, I don't know. You can ask her. I mean, I don't know. So she was very proud, but she was also, you know, as a mom, you know, and she knows Juliana has a mom and she is a mom, you know, so nobody wants to see their child getting choked out.

You know, that's one thing. And my mom is always concerned about my opponent if they're okay. Also, if I'm okay, because she loves what I do and she supports me fully, but she doesn't want anybody to get her. That's my mom. That's a good mom right there. Yeah. Perfect world.

When would you like to get back in there? You're having fun right now. You want to get back there. And I said, I believe you said you wanted to fight everybody. So when would you like to fight the next in line? Well, you know, like I said, it's a very crazy time right now. And here in Holland, the COVID people that are getting tested positive, it's going up a little bit more. So we're getting more restrictions.

And we heard that probably Friday we get a curfew. So it's going to be very tricky. That means also, you know, I've got to work a lot because, of course, I work as a first responder. So, but in this situation, I hope to be back in January, you know, But there's also a job to do, and there's also people that really need my help right now. And my colleagues, we all have to stand as one team and together with all the other first responders. So ideally, definitely beginning of the new year, you know, maybe the end, maybe the beginning of the new year. That's ideally, of course.

But like I said, it's a very strange time. So we take things step by step. And, yeah, I honestly, I really, really hope. And I got the fullest support of all of my colleagues and my whole team, you know, to get back in there and fight for the title again. So I got their support, absolutely. But like I said, it's a very hard time, especially with the Corfu now coming up here in the Netherlands. We have to see. But I keep training.

I'll stay in shape. So don't worry. I'll be ready whenever I have to be ready. That's a promise. There you go. I know Amanda is going to fight Megan Anderson on December 12th. that seems to be how the stars are going to align. So it kind of puts a hold on the title situation at 135 for a little while.

I'm curious if, and I don't want to put negative juju out there at all, but if for some reason, Megan can't make it to December 12th, would you have any interest in fighting Amanda for the other belt, or is that not an option at all? Oh, you mean for my belt, right? Yes, you are the first champion, so what a story that would be? You know, if I'm able, if I would be able to, you know, and the UFC would say, that's the only shot you're ever going to get to fight Amanda.

Again, I'll take it. But I have also said, if I get another shot and Amanda, and I will say it one more time to you. Now I'll tell you, but I will tell you right now, if I get another shot and fight Amanda, and she beats me, I'll retire right then and there on the spot. I will forever stay second best. So if she beats me again, I will retire then and there on the spot. Wow. Because there's nothing left to do anymore.

She's the only one, you know, that beat me, Ferris Square, no problem. And she's the true champion. But if I, the third time, I cannot make it to beat her, then it is what it is. Is it like that for just Amanda? Or let's just say, you know, you fight Holly and she wins a close decision or something. Is it the same thing or you're still moving forward? No, my focus is, of course, on Amanda. You know, that's honest.

You know, so, no, it's Amanda. If she beats me again, I will retire. And I will retire as, for my feeling as a true champion, as a true fighter, with my head held high. But then, you know, I'm second best. She's the best. But I still believe I can beat her, you know, in every piece of my body and bone all out.

my dog comes to join us. Oh, yeah. The positivity. Yes. So, no, I honestly, I still, every piece of my body and soul beliefs I can beat her. And I have the utmost respect for the champ. No, you know, nothing less to say about her. But if she beats me again, that will be the end of my MMA career.

And I had a beautiful career because I've seen it all, been through it all, especially with my submission when now, you know, I've done it all. I've seen it all. So then, you know, I obviously, I can't be her then. So, you know, you've got to be honest with yourself too. Wow. What a storyline that would be. Title versus career?

Wow. That rights itself. Yeah, but it's not a career, you know. It's not like she will end my career. No, but I mean, for what do I have to fight then? Honestly, can anybody tell me what do I have to, Do you honestly believe I have to fight four times for the title? No, I'm 36 years old.

I want to have a family. No, I want to have a baby one day. I mean, then do I have to go and fight 10 girls again to get another shot at the title? You know, she's the champ, you know, and then she's the champ. And I always, you know, then I didn't beat her. But there is nothing more for me to fight in anymore. I'm 10 times undefeated kickboxing champion and Muay Thai. I was the first fed away champion, and I couldn't get the 135 belt.

Then it's okay. I had a beautiful career. There's nothing to be a shame of. Nothing. This has given me goosebumps right now, Jermaine. I'm not going to lie to you. A couple more things where you let you go. I appreciate you giving me so much time today.

You talked about the first responders, and I thought you dedicating the fight to them. The way that you did was very cool. You talked a lot in the lead up to the fight about the negativity police officers have been dealing with over the last several months because of a few bad eggs. And, you know, I've talked about this myself. I know a lot of excellent police officers. So I don't think it's fair to paint all police officers with the same brush because of a few bad ones. But, you know, have you had other first responders, other police officers reach out to you to congratulate you on the wind from like other parts of the country, maybe in the U.S., maybe on social media or something? Yes, absolutely.

Even Giuliana, she thanked me for my service. And her husband is a police officer. And I thanked her. And I thanked her husband for his service because they deserve respect too. You know, and I had a couple of police officers, absolutely. Also from the United States, reaching out and saying thank you. And some nurses, you know, some firefighters, military, you know, and all props to them. Like I said, all cool.

I won the fight by submission. Amazing. But all props to them. They deserve the respect right now. Absolutely in these hard times. They deserve it. And absolutely shout out to them. That fight was for them, that dedication.

And I hoped, and I said it to, after the interviews, I hope a lot of people stayed inside, obeyed the rules, stayed inside, watched some fights, you know, to make their job a little bit easier that night. So, hey, maybe it's a win for all of us. Last thing, I feel that the way this interview is gone, we should end it in a positive way because you are a very positive presence

and you want to be respected by your peers, the UFC, the fans, et cetera. You know, what is the message for everybody when it comes to you, the fight game specifically? And, you know, even what's going on in the world? What do you want to leave everybody with? And, you know, that last bit of positivity, what do you want to say to everybody?

I just want to say to everybody. I know we go through a hard time. We all do. Every part in this world, we're going to a very, very tough time. But as an individual, we're not as strong that as we all stand together and in hand. And it doesn't matter where you come from, what race you are, what color you have, what you believe, or who you love. It doesn't matter. We have to stand strong together.

And if together, we can beat this virus. And hopefully we soon can go back to normal. And remember, die with memories, not dreams. Congratulations, Jermaine. An amazing win against a very tough opponent. Now you're putting women to sleep with chokeholds. The arsenal is getting more vast as time moves forward. Enjoy being back home and all the vests of you moving forward.

Thank you for the time. Thank you so much. Stay safe and stay healthy for you and your family. What an amazing conversation that was. Really enjoyed it. Could have talked to her for another hour easily. Jermaine Duranmi coming out for a big win over Julianna Paney. How about that?

She's down for the Holly Home Fight. but she wants at some point may not be next and she understands where she's at right now but at some point she wants to fight amanda nunes again for the world title preferably the 135 pound title if it's for the 145 title sounds like she'd be up for that as well but i found it very interesting that if she gets an opportunity and she doesn't defeat amanda nunes she will retire right then and there and that is some gusto because she's very realistic very realistic about where she's at her career, what else she has to prove. I mean, she's been a former champion. She's beaten pretty much everybody. She's a number one ranked women's Bannamweight in the world. I think

her Holly Holm is the fight to make. If she beats Holly Holm, I don't think you can make much of an argument against her getting another shot at the title. So I think that's the most direct path to her getting there. So I think that's the fight that ends up happening. I think that's the fight that everybody wants to see and everyone feels makes all the sense in the world. So thank you to Jermaine Neranami for that thoughtful and insightful conversation. As we move ahead to our second guest and actually our final guest on this shortened edition of what the heck here on Mbathighting.com, we're going to talk to John Gotti the 3rd.

He is back at action October 14th next Wednesday night headlining CES 61 in Warwick, Rhode Island, inside the tent. It's going to air on UFC Fight Pass. Here he is, JG3 himself, John Gotti the 3. All right, we have one of the bright welterweight prospect. in our sport joining the program right now. Returns to action next Wednesday, October 14th and the main event of CES 61.

He's going to take on Nick Alley. Happy to be joined by the undefeated John Gotti the 3rd. John, how are you, man? Doing great, Mike. How are you doing? I'm doing great. It's been a crazy year for MMA, for sports in general. Things were shut down for a bit, and that includes a lot of the regional MMA scene

in the United States. CES is getting back after it for the first time since January, a card that you were on. But how excited are you to get back to work and do so in the main event of this return card for the promotion that you spent your entire pro career competing for? I'm very excited. You know, it's been, like you said, it's been a long, what, six months since my last fight, nothing to do but to train and then to improve my game. So, you know, I'm eager to show it October 14th, and I think it'll be a good fight. It's going to be a good show.

How have you been dealing with the pandemic and training and trying to stay sharp with everything that's been going on. Well, I continue training right on through after my last fight, you know, right away. And then we got hit with the pandemic and Jim started shutting down and all these other crazy nonsense. So I'm fortunate I have like a little bit of space at home to do my, my training and get my extra work in.

So I just continue training normally and would set up appointments with my trainers, individual work and whatnot. We made it work and we trained hard these last six months. So I feel really good. Are things back to normal? now in New York? Are you able to get back into the gym and work with your team a little bit more? It's starting to get semi-normal in some gyms. Other gyms know you still have to wear the mask all the time, so it's extremely difficult to get workouts in wearing a mask. But, and, you know,

we're doing what we can do, I guess. You know, it's what it is, but you have to work around it. It's times to win right now. Yeah. And you're part of the Long Island M.A. team that includes guys like Brian Kelleher, who I've talked to a million times, he's super high on you as a teammate and a fighter. But to see how active he's been throughout all of this, how motivating has that been for you to see that this has not slowed him down at all? In fact, this has probably been his biggest year as a fighter in terms of namesake and activity. Oh, yeah, it's awesome. You know, he looks like he's having a great time out there. You know, he's being active.

He looks good and he looks more comfortable with the no audience. So I'm eager to see how that feels fighting with no fans and whatnot come October 14th. But yeah, it's really motivating, man. It makes you want to get out there and just perform. I was at your last fight. You took on Marcos Lareda, the most experienced fighter that you face in your career. You picked up a unanimous decision. And most people expect you to go in there and finish fights in the first round.

You have done so your previous four fights. But how much experience do you think you're able to gain from that fight with a guy like Marcos, veteran savvy, knows some different kinds of tricks through his experience and just taking on a guy like that. What did you take away from that fight? It took a lot from that fight. Like you said, he's a veteran in his own right. You know, he has, you know, 13, 14 fights. And he fought since my last fight as well.

And he won last week I watched. So he's been around the scene. You know, he's hungry. He was hungry, you know, to come and take that W. And I got putting a lot of difficult situations in that fight and had a fight through it. So all you could gain is experience from that type of fight. You know, that's the type, exactly the type of fight I needed at that particular time in January. So I think I learned a lot from that fight, no doubt.

You mentioned the fans or lack thereof for October 14th because one thing that I've noticed about the Lareda fight and then just seeing all of your other fights in CES is that you do not travel alone, and that is stating it lightly. It's actually pretty wild to see how many members of your circle show up for all of these fights. It's like a completely different atmosphere. when it's your turn to fight, usually at Twin River or wherever these events take place. This time you're going to be in the tent, no fans.

How different is that going to be for you to go from these massive, you know, John Gotti the third, almost event takeover crowds to just you, your opponent, the referee, and a few other guys? Yeah, you know what? Listen, like I said, I love our supporters and our people. It means more to mean than anything when they come out and support. But I'm like, I'm an introvert type of kid, you know, and I like my space. type of, like, to be, to be alone.

So this actually fits, like, suits me better to fight, you know, with no fans. It's nice and quiet. It's almost like a high-stakes sparring session, which I think I'm going to perform better and feel more comfortable doing. So I'm very excited for it. You know, you're not going to get this chance too often, you know, because of the circumstances, obviously you have to have no fans, but I'm excited to see how it feels to get out there and fight.

So you're going to fight Nick Alley next Wednesday, a local New England fighter, he's six and three. last three, all first round submissions. None of his fights in his career have gone to the judge's scorecards, which seems to be right up your alley. Did you know much about Nick when you were offered this fight?

Yeah, I've heard of Nick throughout the years on the regional scene. I definitely was familiar with him. I've seen a couple of his fights. He's a tough kid. He comes to fight. He comes from a good school. So I'm sure, you know, he trained his butt off

for this fight. I'm sure they have a solid game plan that come to bring, but we're ready for anything. I have a good team, like you said, Long Island MMA, and Ryan LaFlair, who came up with my own game plan. So we're ready for anybody and anything. When were you offered this fight? Like, when did you know that this is the thing? About a month ago.

A little over a month ago, they offered him and me the fight. We both accepted. So we both been preparing for each other for at least a little over a month now. There you go. Were you confident that they were going to be able to pull it off? Was the date sort of, like, said, or were they like, it's going to be around this time frame? Yeah, they were giving me, like, around this. this time frame like from the from the 14 to the 20 something I don't know and the date was the 17th

first then it came to the 16 15 the 14 we're meeting like head on here uh the next thing you know is going to be this week so it's whatever I'm ready I'm in shape my weight's awesome I'm just I'm just ready to go what is your weight right now if you don't mind me asking uh yesterday is about 177 so I'm like I'm ahead of schedule here you'll be on wait by the time you get to Rhode Island I'll be on weight by the end of this week if I need to, you know, so I feel good, which normally my weight cuts come down to the wire. It's literally drive up there to Rhode Island, the wherever I'm fighting. You know, I just make the weight. This sport, as you know, it's ever evolving, right? Like, the more experience you get, the better you become, the better fighters you share the cage

with, the better you get. And from, so from like the 24-year-old who made his pro debut in October 2017 to the guy that we're going to see next Wednesday. What do you think is like the biggest difference between that guy to the fighter we're going to see three years later? Well, listen, in these last three years, I've made nothing but improvements and I've been working nonstop on improving. If you're not improving, like you said, in this sport, you're going to get, you're going to get eaten because everybody's evolving every fight. So I believe I made big improvements since January. You know, I changed a lot of my style up. I worked a lot of my weaknesses. I worked on my conditioning, my kicks, stance switching, everything.

So if you're not evolving in this game, you're not going to last long because every fight you see guys, the calf kicks and stance switches, they're constantly changing their game. So I believe every fight you're going to see improvement and evolution out of my game. And God willing, it works out. Obviously, I mean, listen, it's no secret. You get a lot of attention because of your name and your family lineage. You've been asked about it at nauseam because of who your grandfather was in the family name.

And the gody name is a place in America. in history, you know, I know about that. But like, like, when you look at a guy like, say, like a James Galaher and Bellator, like he's, he's proud to be a friend and a teammate of Connor McGregor, but, you know, he wants to be more than just the, oh, yeah, that's the guy who trains with Connor. He wants to blaze his own trail and do his own thing. Are you, are you okay with constantly being asked about the last name? Or are you hoping that at some point the headlines won't always have John Gotti the third,

the grandson of the infamous John Gotti is going to fight this guy? And you could be kind of like your own guy, you know what I mean? Unfortunately, listen, it is what it is. Every time I do fight, that's, that's going to be brought up and it's going to be mentioned because that's my name. I have the exact name. I'm not ashamed of it. You know, I embrace my name. I'm proud of my name, you know, and I'll do the best I can to represent my name and the best way I could.

So my sons and my grand, you know, my grandsons could walk, you know, walk proudly and whatnot. So I'm, I walk through far. I'll walk through fire with my name, you know, I raise the black flag always. and I'll go to war, you know, for my name. So I'm proud of it, like I said, but it is what it is. You know, it's always going to be mentioned when I fight because it's the elephant in the room. So I don't get annoyed with it at all.

It's okay. All right. Well said. Well said. How do you get this thing done on October 14th against a tough test in Nick Alley? Any way possible, you know, I'm going to fight smart. I'm going to fight my game. You know, I'm going to look to pick him apart and to see what he brings.

You know, I'm sure, like I said, he, he, he, he, He has a game plan. He's going to try to pull some slick stuff, maybe some submissions or things like that. So I'm just ready for whatever. We prepared for whatever. We got hard sparring in for this camp. You know, different bodies coming in every round,

bigger guys, middle weights and light heavy weights. So, and I got pushed to the max this camp. It's been a long, long six months. And I'm ready to go and just have a slice of pizza or something. There's a, I mean, there's a lot of fans who ask me specifically why you haven't been on this season of Dana White's Contender Series. because, and I remember when we spoke after your last win, you said that you're staying patient, it's about getting better, and when you're ready to jump on that opportunity or sign with a big global promotion, you want to make the most of it. You don't want any wasted time in your career. How close do you think you are to taking that next step?

If you go out there on October 14 and look sensational and you put Nick away quickly, does that change things at all? Do you think you'll be ready, or do you still think you need a little bit more seasoning? Because I think this fight is going to be a lot that comes from this fight, you know, with a win. You know, I think if we win and look impressively here, you know, I have to sit down on my team and we've got to discuss the rest of the year to see what the next steps are, you know, it may be a big next step, it may be a tiny next step, but there definitely will be there will be something, you know, something big depending on how we look here. So this fight's very important, I believe, the outcome of this fight, and then we'll go from there. But with a win, I'm anticipating maybe a step up.

I don't know where, I don't know when, but we'll see. Have you been offered a contender series fight in the past? Like, I know Dana took to social media before your last fight. You let everybody know that you're about to make the walk to the cage. You're clearly on their radar. Have there been opportunities like that presented to you? Well, I'm sure they've been presented to my team and whatnot. But like I said, I'm just looking to take my time and gain as much experience as I can on the regional scene.

Because once you eventually get to a certain step, the floodgates open now. Now, you're facing the elite of the elite here. So you have to be ready for everybody and everything, and you have to be on your game. Otherwise, you'll get really messed up. But I'm sure they've been presented, not to me personally, but I'm sure to my team. And I'm sure when it's right, it makes sense, we'll make those steps. I'm sure being how you are and being sort of a, I guess, a loner, as you like to say, you like to be alone and be by yourself. I'm sure that makes things a lot easier.

You're not in this social media world where everyone's tagging you and stuff and saying, Like, when are you fighting in the UFC, John? Like, this must make things a lot easier for you, right? No, I still get the tags and whatnot, but I just, I kind of just to swipe right or what are you, swipe left. But, yeah, you know, listen, it's all love at the end of the day, and all the positive support means, it means the world to me. So I embrace that, you know, tenfold.

But I just like my space, you know, I'm a simple guy. Going to the movies is enough for me or going to dinner or just hanging out at home and watching football today. That's just the type of guy I am. I'll always be like that. Yeah, who are you going to be watching? You get a jersey that you're going to be wearing today or what? Normally I'm a Jets fan, but I break my heart every year.

So I went to the Buccaneers and Tom Brady this year. I've been away. Yeah, I had to. Wow. Is that, I mean, as a Jets fan, that's going to break your heart a little bit? Or is it just because you're a Brady fan and now that he's not on the Patriots, you can feel better about cheering for him? I've always been a Brady fan.

I've been watching Brady since literally I'm five years old. So it's like a nostalgic feeling every time I see Brady and he's competing with these kids that are 18, 19 years old. So I just, everywhere he goes, I root for it's hard not to rule for Brady. He's just the type of guy you just need to rule for it. He has that type of energy to him. And all his teammates and everybody who's ever played with him, there's nothing but good things to say about him.

So it says what kind of guy he is. You know, I hope he does good this year. And I'm looking forward to watching it. I never understood the hatred outside of New England for Tom Brady. It just made no sense to me. Because I grew up in the Boston area and like, you know, the Yankees suck and all that stuff. But like I was a big Derek Jeter Mark. And people used to give me crap about it all the time.

Like, how can you hate this guy? Like the guy plays hard. So why? Because he's a good looking guy and he makes a lot of money. We were supposed to hate him. Like the guy worked as hard as he could and got to this position. Why hate the man, you know? Yeah, 100%.

I'll never hear anybody that's doing something positive and successful with their life. So listen, Tom Brady to me is a legend. I love Tom Brady since I'm a kid. I love him now. And I hope he went to Super Bowl this year. I'll go out and I'll let me and say that as a jet fan. All right. Is it UFC or a bus for you?

Because we've seen Bellator make some big moves lately. They're signing a ton of prospects, a lot of free agents that have very high ceilings. They're investing in the future of their company. Are you open to all options and avenues here? Or do you kind of have a favorite in your gut here? Listen, I'm open to all options. At the end of the day, it comes down to what my team wants and my coaches. I'll always, you know, I'll always trust them and take their advice on anything because

they've been there before, like Ryan LaFlair, he's been at the top of the sport. Derek Panza is a kickboxing world champion. So it's not USC or bust necessarily. It's just what makes the most sense and where I would fit the best. That's what it comes down to for me. Well, you seem to have your mind in the right place here. and being a New England guy myself, I am thrilled that we have some MMA in the region to look forward to.

It's been a minute. It all goes down October 14th, CS61, live and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass main event, is this man, John Gotti III, taking on Nick Alley. John, thank you for the time, man. I really appreciate it, and all the best to you for the rest of camp and in the fight itself.

Good stuff right there from John Gotti the 3rd. It should be a heck of a fight. Nick Alley is a tough customer. He is one of the toughest outs in New England, note about that. He's six and three. Three-fight winning streak, all submissions. None of his fights have gone to the judge's scorecard. So he goes in there and it's just falls to the wall. It's just lived by the sword, die by the sword. That's the kind of fighter he is. So him and John Gotti the third should be one heck of a fight. I think it's a great test after the Marcus Loretta fight

to go in and fight a guy like Nick Alley who is looking to make a big move himself. I like this fight. I think it's going to be really good. And for those who think that John Guy the third is going to go in there and steamroll him, yeah, that could happen. But just knowing Nick Alley and following his career a little bit and then following John Gotti the third, the third, I think it's going to be a good scrap. So big thank you to John Galli the third. Big thank you to CES for setting that one up. And of course, big thank you to Jermaine Duranmi for coming on and kicking us off. And a big thank you to all of you for watching and listening and for being so understanding that Mother Nature doesn't like us in New England from time to time.

gets crazy out there and we'll have some bonus coverage, some bonus conversations for you to check out on our YouTube page with Alex Hernandez with James Krause and working on some other stuff for next week's episode of What the Heck as well. But don't you worry, we got tons of coverage when it comes to UFC Fight Island 5 coming up this Saturday headline by Marl Marl Marais versus Corey Sandhagg. And we talked a lot about the stakes of that fight on Between the Links, so go and check that out.

And we'll have your way-in show cover. beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday. We'll have your preview show. And then on Saturday, coverage galore of that event, getting you ready. Jose Young's still in Abu Dhabi, our boots on the ground, he'll have all the scrums, all the post-fight interviews, and then we'll have the post-fight show and all that stuff. So coverage galore right here on M.A.fighting.com. Big thank you once again for all of you watching the program every week. Big thank you to Casey Leiden on the production side, putting this all together. Our team, for the graphics and all that stuff. Appreciate it very much. As always, have a heck of a week,

everybody. Thank you very much. Good night, everybody. Listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.