By The Numbers: Mads Burnell vs. Pedro Carvalho

Two of Bellator MMA’s Top 5 featherweights will collide when Mads Burnell meets Pedro Carvalho in a featured Bellator 285 attraction on Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. Neither man can afford to give ground in what many view as the promotion’s premier division.

Burnell enters the cage having won seven of his past eight bouts. However, the Arte Suave representative finds himself on the rebound following a five-round unanimous decision loss to Adam Borics in the Bellator 276 headliner on March 12. Carvalho, meanwhile, has lost three times across his past four outings. The SBG Ireland export last appeared on May 6, when he wound up on the wrong side of a split verdict against Piotr Niedzielski at Bellator 280.

As Burnell and Carvalho move closer to their high-stakes battle at 145 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

28: Years of age for Burnell, who was born in Husum, Denmark, on March 6, 1994.

9: Burnell victories by submission, accounting for 56% of his career total (16). His methods of choice: four Japanese neckties, two rear-naked chokes, one anaconda choke, one brabo chokes and one armbar. Burnell holds one other victory by knockout or technical knockout (6%)—he dispatched Darko Banovic with first-round punches at Bellator 248 in 2020—and six more by decision (38%).

12: Undisputed featherweight titleholders in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship history, Burnell among them. Paul McVeigh, Emmanuel Fernandez, Danny Batten, Conor McGregor, Jim Alers, Alex Enlund, Paddy Pimblett, Nad Narimani, Dean Trueman, Morgan Charriere and Jordan Vucenic are the others.

4: Sub-minute finishes on the Burnell resume. He took out Aleksander Sredanovic with an anaconda choke in 58 seconds at European MMA 6 on Sept. 26, 2013, put away Ali Selcuk Ayin with a brabo choke in 50 seconds at EMMA 8 on Feb. 22, 2014, dismissed Jamie Reynolds with an armbar in 30 seconds at Odense Fight Night 3 on April 25, 2015 and vanquished Ahmed Vila with a Japanese necktie in 50 seconds at Cage Warriors 103 on March 9, 2019.

.902: Cumulative winning percentage between the four men—Borics, Arnold Allen, Michel Prazeres and Ott Tonissaar—who have beaten Burnell. They boast a remarkable combined record of 74-8.

27: Years of age for Carvalho, who was born on June 8, 1995 in Guimaraes, Portugal.

6: Carvalho wins by submission, accounting for 50% of his career total (12). His methods of choice: two rear-naked chokes, one triangle choke, one guillotine choke, one armbar and one face crank. Carvalho owns two other wins by knockout or technical knockout (17%) and four more by decision (33%).

43: Seconds needed for Carvalho to submit Luca Vitali with a guillotine choke at Bellator 211 on Dec. 1, 2018. Nearly four years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

8: Companies for which Carvalho has suited up as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 5-3 in Bellator, 2-0 in Cage Legacy Fighting Championship, 1-1 in Cage Fighters, 1-1 in the Invictus Pro MMA League, 1-0 in World Ultimate Full Contact, 1-0 in Showfight, 1-0 in MMA Maranus and 0-1 in International Pro Combat.

79: Combined victories between the six opponents—Niedzielski, Jay-Jay Wilson, Patricio Freire, Adenir Araujo, Wisma Lima and Artur Lemos—who have defeated Carvalho. They sport an .814 cumulative winning percentage at 79-18.