John Gotti III is no longer undefeated.
Gotti took on New Hampshire’s Nick Alley in the main event of CES 61 inside “The Tent” at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, R.I., and after a solid start to the fight, Alley took over in the final 10 minutes to pick up the biggest win of his career.
Gotti began things with a variety of kicks to the body and legs of Alley and landed an easy takedown on the submission specialist about a minute in. Gotti landed a pair of elbows, and a trio of punches to the body, as Alley tried to stay busy from his back. Alley worked towards a triangle attempt, but it was thwarted by Gotti, who was landing select shots. Despite being on his back for almost the entire round, Alley did a great job avoiding major damage, outside of a brief flurry in the final minute.
Alley pushed forward a bit more to start the second round but ate a left hook from Gotti for his troubles. Gotti took Alley down easily, but the New Englander got right back to his feet. Alley started to land more frequently as Gotti tried to dig to the body. They battled against the fence and Alley landed a pair of knees to the body. Gotti tried to take Alley’s back but was way too high to get the hooks in and comes down bleeding. Alley landed short punches and elbows to even things up.
The final round saw Alley drop Gotti with a leg kick, and land a left hand that got the Long Island MMA standout’s attention. After an easy takedown for Alley, who took the back of Gotti, but he’s able to turn in and get on top. Alley locked in a triangle choke with over three minutes to go. Gotti was in big trouble but he was able to escape and take Alley’s back again momentarily. Alley was on top landing short elbows and rode out the final minute.
Two judges scored it 29-28, while the other scored it 29-27 for Alley.
In the co-main event, Contender Series alum Fabio Cherant, who missed weight by three pounds, earned a unanimous decision over Canada’s Yu Ji in a light heavyweight matchup. Kris Moutinho halted Ashiek Ajim’s hype train with a second-round TKO victory in the bantamweight feature bout.
COMEBACK KRIS! #CES61 pic.twitter.com/RJ407UZSl8
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 15, 2020
The highlight of the night goes to former Contender Series and TUF competitor Jamelle Jones who ferociously knocked out Tyler King. After landing the sure fight-ending blow, the referee allowed Jones to land a trio of unanswered strikes to an unconscious King that left him laying on the mat for well over a minute.
MAN ⬇️! #CES61@CESMMA LIVE NOW https://t.co/kTDV2fwEgP pic.twitter.com/uKnsMZ2XW5
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 15, 2020
In addition, top New England flyweight and bantamweight prospect Mitch Raposo improved to 5-0 with a dominant unanimous decision win over Matt Almy.
Check out full CES 61 results below:
Nick Alley def. John Gotti III via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Fabio Cherant def. Yu Ji via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28)
Kris Moutinho def. Ashiek Ajim via TKO – Round 2, 2:45
Jamelle Jones def. Tyler King via KO – Round 1, 4:57
Mitch Raposo def. Matt Almy via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Connor Matthews def. Joshua Marer via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 1, 0:57
Eddy George def. Frank Mazepa via TKO – Round 1, 2:21