Mansour Barnaoui has spent more than 1,200 days on the sidelines, but he nevertheless managed to hold Bellator MMA’s attention and now sees his long-overdue debut on major stage looming over the horizon.
As Barnaoui and Piccolotti approach their intriguing battle at 155 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
34: Years of age for Piccolotti, who was born on Oct. 23, 1988 in Half Moon Bay, California.
6: Piccolotti victories by submission, accounting for 46% of his career total (13). His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes and one neck crank. Piccolotti owns two other victories by knockout or technical knockout (15%) and five more by decision (39%).
30: Rounds completed by Piccolotti as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on eight different occasions and carries a 5-3 record in those bouts.
3: First-round finishes on the Piccolotti resume, with two of them having unfolded under the Bellator banner. He took care of Ray Wood rear-naked choke in 3:17 at Bellator 154 on May 14, 2016 and used the same maneuver to dispatch Carrington Banks in 4:41 at Bellator 199 on May 12, 2018.
.779: Cumulative winning percentage between the four men—Sidney Outlaw, Benson Henderson, David Rickels and Goiti Yamauchi—who have defeated Piccolotti. They boast a combined record of 95-27.
30: Years of age for Barnaoui, who was born in Tunis, Tunisia, on Sept. 20, 1992.
12: Barnaoui wins by submission, accounting for 63% of his career total (19). His methods of choice: 10 rear-naked chokes and two north-south chokes. Barnaoui holds six other wins by knockout or technical knockout (32%) and one more by decision (5%).
122: Seconds needed for Barnaoui to put away Nandin-Erdene Munguntsooj with a rear-naked choke at Road Fighting Championship 44 on Nov. 11, 2017. Nearly five years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
9: Countries in which Barnaoui has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 6-0 in France, 4-0 in South Korea, 2-2 in Russia, 2-0 in England, 2-0 in China, 1-1 in Poland, 1-0 in Switzerland, 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates and 0-1 in Canada.
102: Combined victories between the four men—Mateusz Gamrot, Ivan Buchinger, Islam Makhachev and Kevin Lee—who have beaten Barnaoui. They sport an .850 cumulative winning percentage at 102-18.