Mansour Barnaoui made a statement in his Bellator debut. The Tunisian-born fighter choked out Adam Piccolotti in the second round of Bellator 287 headliner.
Barnaoui, who prior to this fight had a 19 – 4 record, returned to the cage after a 1,260 days long hiatus. In his promotional debut, he was paired against Piccolotti, who sported a 13 – 4 record. Unlike his opponent, the American has fought 13 times inside the circular cage. ‘The Bomb’ balance with Bellator was 9 – 4.
Mansour Banaoui vs. Adam Piccolotti: Round 1.
Piccolotti started with strikes and followed it with a takedown. However, Barnaoui managed to sweep into the top position. He denied an omoplata attempt by Picolloti. The Tunisian-born fighter launched a few strikes of his own. He advanced toward Piccolotti’s back and struck his face a few times. The ground game dominance of Barnaoui was exhibited by his body triangle lock, which allowed him to increase the volume of his ground-and-pound. He also attempted to choke out Piccolotti but failed to do that. However, he kept on pressuring his opponent with a body lock.
Mansour Banaoui was definitely leading on the judges’ scorecards after the first round.
ROUND 2
It looked like Piccolotti hasn’t learned from the previous round. The American threatened Banaoui with a guillotine choke attempt. He also managed to take the top position. All during the first 30 seconds of the second outing. Despite this show of dominance by his opponent, Banaoui was able to lock his body again. He also softened him up with his punches and attempted a few different choke holds. Piccolotti’s defense was quite good, but with Barnaoui putting on the pressure it was just a matter of time. The Tunisian switched his grip a few times and finally found an opening. Next, he just squeezed and made his opponent tap out. It was a strong showing by Mansour Banaoui, who impressed the Italian crowd.
Mansour Barnaoui submitted Adam Piccolottin at 2:51 of Round 2. With that impressive win, he made a statement that he’s a force to be reckoned with in the Bellator lightweight division.