Joe Giannetti once stood on the brink of a UFC contract, needing just one more win at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale in July 2018. However, defeat cost him the contract and, by his own admission, his hope.
Now 29, Giannetti is focused on taking his career one fight at a time, inspired by the approach of Bill Belichick. He is preparing for his upcoming fight at LFA 204, which will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass this Saturday at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Throughout his career, Giannetti consistently believed that his next victory would be the one to bring him back to the UFC. But with each setback, his optimism waned. Now, the former multiple-time Cage Titans champion is confronting his past as he aims for a brighter future in MMA.
“I had a five-fight win streak, I was a multiple division champ in Cage Titans, and still, no UFC call, no discussions about even a short-notice opportunity,” Giannetti told MMA Fighting. “It makes you question yourself, wondering what more you need to do.”
“Maybe it is over for me, and I`ve started to accept that maybe I am the biggest screw-up in MMA history. I was in a co-main event for Israel Adesanya during UFC International Fight Week, won the first round, and then my body completely failed me. I performed terribly. The next day, I told everyone the UFC would cut me, they said I was crazy. Weeks later, I was cut. Then it was wins, losses, draws, and even issues with making weight. I really messed up.”
“Maybe I am the biggest screw-up in the sport, but if I can turn things around, that`s a pretty incredible story.”
Giannetti experienced a mixed bag of results in 2024. He secured a swift 27-second ninja choke victory at Cage Titans 65 in May, followed by a split decision loss to UFC veteran Peter Barrett in a Fight of the Year contender less than two months later. He then rebounded with a highlight-reel knockout in his Karate Combat debut in October, just weeks before his wedding.
Despite these ups and downs, Giannetti`s ambition to compete in the UFC again, and to fight in the octagon outside of Boston, remains strong after winning seven of his last nine fights. Now, he understands that achieving his goal depends on performing consistently and trusting that if he does everything right, the UFC call will come when the time is right.
“It’s funny, I was joking with friends about this the other day. Before I went on The Ultimate Fighter, I told my roommate, ‘I’m going to get on The Ultimate Fighter, dominate everyone, win the finale, go for the title, and retire from MMA by 30,’” Giannetti recalled. “That was always the plan – by 29, 30, have a title, defend it a couple of times, and be done.”
“Obviously, things haven’t gone according to that plan. When I realized my initial vision wasn`t materializing, I think I lost hope. I thought, ‘Oh, the plan failed, I’m doomed.’ But I have put in the effort, committed to training, made countless sacrifices – physically, financially, everything. I think it was mainly about losing hope and accepting the challenging grind of realizing, ‘This is going to be as tough as you imagine, and even tougher.’”
“I recently saw a video that asked, ‘Would you run if you didn`t know the distance?’ If someone told you to reach your goal, would you just keep running until they said stop? It sounds simple, like, yes, I’d run towards my goal. But what if you don’t know if it’s one mile or twenty? And that’s my point. I think I was expecting it to be ‘10 miles’ when maybe it’s ‘30.’ That’s where I am now. I have that hope back, and I’ll keep going as long as it takes to make it happen.”
Wesley Dunham 
Marcus Blakely