New England rivals Jimmy Williams (18-5-2, 6 KOs) of New Haven, Connecticut, and Greg Vendetti (22-4-1, 12 KOs) of Stoneham, Massachusetts, collide Friday night, September 24th at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT. The ten-round bout will air live on UFC Fight Pass. Williams and Vendetti are two of New England’s most accomplished active fighters. Friday’s event also features the Connecticut debut of Stamford, CT middleweight Chordale Booker (16-0, 7 KOs), who faces Silveiro Ortiz (37-27, 18 KOs) of Mexico in an eight-round supporting bout.
The preliminary card begins at 6:30 pm ET with the live stream kicking off at 7, featuring play-by play from Michael Parente alongside color commentators "Sucra" Ray Oliveira and Fun 107 radio host and veteran ringside correspondent Madelyn Grimaldi. Tickets are available at CESFights.com.
Williams and Vendetti have built strong followings in and out of New England through the years despite their careers traveling vastly different paths. Williams, 35, a former college football standout born and raised in Plainfield, NJ, began his career with 15 wins in his first 16 pro bouts, the only blemishes being a draw against Greg Jackson in 2013 and a controversial no contest against Issouf Kinda in 2017.
Along the way, the charismatic right-hander, who works as a truancy officer in West Haven, defeated Nick DeLomba in 2017. Never one to back down from a challenge, Williams hit a rough patch between 2019 and 2020, punctuated by a devastating knockout loss to prospect Brandun Lee, but a solid performance in his comeback bout against Mexican challenger Esteban Villalba, albeit a loss, proved to be enough to lift Williams’ confidence and convince him to keep moving forward.
The decision to continue fighting was a wise one; in June, Williams scored the best win of his career, outworking former WBA 154-pound champion Yuri Foreman. The next challenge is Vendetti, 31, a hard-nosed, workman-like fighter whom Williams respects for his willingness to fight anyone, a characteristic both have shared throughout their careers.
“Greg is a true warrior and he comes to fight, just like myself,” Williams said. “This fight will bring out the best in me. It’s going to be a night to remember.”
Vendetti, a former plumber, is best described as a throwback fighter, one who charges his opponent from the opening bell and never lets up. In his first appearance with CES in 2017, Vendetti bullied the favored Khiary Gray to earn a majority decision win and capture the vacant New England Super Welterweight Title.
The win helped catapult Vendetti to the next level and the opportunities he kept coming. First, he cleaned up the 154-pound weight class in New England, toppling regional rivals Casey Streeter and Derek Silveira. A year later, he earned another big break on ESPN, upsetting favored Japanese standout Yoshihiro Kamegai. Vendetti continued to work hard, even after a loss to Michel Soro in 2018.
In August of 2020, Vendetti faced one of the sport’s pound-for-pound top fighters, Erislandy Lara, for Lara’s WBA regular 154-pound belt. Vendetti lost the fight on the scorecards. Even Vendetti himself said entering the fight, “When I hear the odds and I hear people’s opinions that I’m going to get killed … I would say the same thing if I were them.”
Furthermore, few could’ve predicted Vendetti would get the opportunity to face a fighter like Lara on that kind of stage when he finished a pedestrian 4-2-1 in his first seven fights, including a draw and a loss to journeyman Antonio Fernandes. To keep his composure, Vendetti continued to follow the advice of his longtime trainer Joe Ricciardi: “Work hard, and things can happen.” A lot has happened in the past eight years for Vendetti, and now he faces another New England rival on the road in his home state – just another day at the office. Simply put, Vendetti said, “My plan is to win.”
