Having Overcome Personal Demons, Joey Pierotti Now Seeks ONE Championship Gold

The road to becoming a ONE Championship athlete has been filled with curves and valleys for Joey Pierotti.

The native of Enumclaw, Washington, United States will make his debut for the promotion at ONE: A NEW TOMORROW on January 10 from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand against Raimond Magomedaliev. The two will square off in a welterweight contest.

Pierotti, who has won 10 of his 11 professional bouts, has always found his light at the end of the tunnel.

“I went to drug and alcohol rehab in California in 2014,” Pierotti admits.

“While there, I was fortunate enough to have my best friend, who lived 45 minutes away, drive over and visit me on the weekend. One weekend, however, his wife’s best friend from back home was visiting for a weekend from Boston.

“My buddy brought her along for one of these weekend visits and we hit it off instantly. That ‘best friends, wife’s best friend’ is today my wife, Sarra, and mother to our beautiful daughter, Zoey.

“And, I have been sober ever since.”

The 30-year-old Pierotti started his career in 2016 and picked up eight consecutive wins. He rebounded from his only loss to date with back-to-back victories, setting himself up for a run at the ONE Welterweight World Championship.

Between competing and training, Pierotti also finds time to help his community.

“I have been a full-time firefighter for almost six years now,” he said.

“My hobbies include being a dad to my one and only daughter, and if there is any free time between that, work, training, and fighting, I enjoy laying low with my family and if we get a wild hair, going to a concert or a comedy show.

“But there is not a whole lot of free time around the Pierotti household.”

Pierotti first attended the University of Wyoming before a family illness forced him to move closer to home and compete for North Idaho College.

“I went for a semester to Wyoming, but moved back when my mom had been diagnosed and was going through treatments for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma,” he said.

“I started for the North Idaho wrestling team and earned my degree in fire science.”

She also became the reason for the “Mama’s Boy” nicknamed that was attached to Pierotti.

“An announcer in one of my first fights gave it to me,” he said.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of info on me at the time and the only tattoo I had was a classic ‘Mom’ heart one. It fits, though, because I more than likely would not be in the position I am today if it hadn’t been for my mom, either directly or indirectly.”

Through all of this, Pierotti believes he has positioned himself to excel with ONE Championship - starting with his debut against Magomedaliev.

“Training has been how it always has been: very efficient and very intense,” Pierotti said.

“My biggest strength is my cardio and work ethic. I love punching people in the face and choking them unconscious. I plan on putting on a relentless pace and making my opponent quit.

“I think winning my first bout for ONE Championship will help set my intentions within the welterweight division.”