Unlikely heavyweight contenders will lock horns under the Bellator MMA marquee when Marcelo Golm faces Daniel James in the Bellator 293 main event on Friday at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. They are part of a growing line that has formed behind current champion Ryan Bader.
As Golm and James make final preparations ahead of their forthcoming showdown, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
30: Years of age for Golm, who was born in Santos, Brazil, on Sept. 15, 1992.
3: Golm victories by submission, accounting for 30% of his career total (10). His methods of choice: two rear-naked chokes and one arm-triangle choke. Golm holds seven other victories by knockout or technical knockout (70%).
18: Seconds needed for Golm to punch out Italo Marques at a Mr. Cage Championship show on July 1, 2017. Nearly six years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
4: Countries in which Golm has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 6-1 in his native Brazil, 4-0 in the United States, 0-1 in Canada and 0-1 in Russia.
.796: Cumulative winning percentage between the three opponents—Sergei Pavlovich, Arjan Singh Bhullar and Tim Johnson—who have beaten Golm. They sport a combined record of 43-11.
41: Years of age for James, who was born on Dec. 31, 1981 in Chicago.
10: James wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 71% of his career total (14). His list of victims includes Fortune, Raphael Pessoa and Michal Martinek. James owns three other wins by submission (22%) and one more by decision (7%).
9: Consecutive calendar years in which James has fought at least once. He went 3-1 in 2014, 2-0 in 2015, 0-1-1 in 2016, 2-1 in 2017, 1-0 in 2018, 1-2 in 2019, 1-0 in 2020, 2-1 in 2021 and 2-0 in 2022.
5: First-round finishes on the James resume, highlighted by his 101-second TKO of Denis Smoldarev at an Absolute Championship Akhmat event on Feb. 26, 2022.
73: Combined victories between the six opponents—Daniel Omielanczuk, Ruslan Magomedov, Brett Martin, Daniel Gallemore, Arnold Adams and Leroy Johnson—who have defeated James. They boast a cumulative .658 winning percentage at 73-37-1.