Mansour Barnaoui Chokes Out Adam Piccolotti in Bellator 287 Main Event

👊 @Mansourbarnaoui applying the pressure to @adampiccolotti. #Bellator287 | 🇺🇸 @SHOSports | 🇬🇧 @BBCThree pic.twitter.com/GPac6q2UAb

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 29, 2022

The debuting Mansour Barnaoui took advantage of being in the main event of Bellator 287 and picked up a dominant win over Adam Piccolotti.

Piccolotti (13-5) wasted little time in implementing his game plan as he immediately took the fight to the ground, which wound up being a mistake. Barnaoui (20-4), who hasn't fought since 2019, survived an armbar attempt and was able to take the back of the American and control the rest of the opening frame. "The Afro-Samurai" would once again take the back of his opponent in Round 2 and sunk in a rear-naked choke that forced the tap.

The tap officially came at 2:51 of Round 2.

Edwards Controls Ward

The co-main event was a European middleweight clash between England's Fabian Edwards and Charlie Ward from Ireland.

Both men came out looking to strike and it was Edwards (11-2) that struck first with a solid head kick that wobbled the Irish fighter. Ward (10-5) would survive into the second frame thanks to a successful takedown. Edwards would switch things up in Round 2 by taking Ward down several times and landing dicing elbows while on top. The largely one-sided beating continued as Edwards was simply the stronger fighter with better technique as he controlled Ward and took his back throughout the final round while talking trash and landing punches.

Edwards' clear-cut victory was made official with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in his favor.

Related » Bellator 287 Round-by-Round Scoring

Wilde Outstrikes Rogers

A featured lightweight fight between Saul Rogers and Tim Wilde lived up to expectations.

Early scrambles saw Rogers (15-5) take his opponent down, secure the back of Wilde (15-4-1) and look for several submissions. However, the English fighter would survive a couple of close calls to see a second round. Wilde would fare much better in Round 2 as he found himself on top of "Tha Hangman" and was able to land some thudding ground and pound before the fight went back to the feet. The final round was largely controlled by Wilde on the feet, although Rogers secured a takedown and unsuccessfully looked for submissions for a minute.

After 15 minutes of action, the judges decided Wilde had done enough for a split decision win with scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.

Gonzales Overwhelms Fisher

The Bellator 287 main card opened with a featherweight bout between Justin Gonzales and Andrew Fisher.

Early on, the wrestling of Gonzales (14-1) was the difference maker as he was able to find success in the clinch and take the fight to the floor against Fisher (19-9-1, 1 NC). As the fight went on, "J-Train" continued to outstrike the English veteran as he was quicker and more accurate with his punches. While never in danger of being finished, Fisher wasn't able to find any success in a one-sided thrashing of a final round that saw the English fighter's nose busted up by pinpoint punches.

Gonzales was awarded a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27 across the board.

In televised preliminary action, Daniel Scatizzi outworked Davy Gallon to earn three 29-28 scorecards in his favor; Costello van Steenis made a successful return by sinking in a brabo choke against Kamil Oniszczuk at 3:02 of Round 2; Alfie Davis outstruck Thibault Gouti to take three 30-27 scorecards; Chiara Penco took a controversial split decision verdict (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) over Manuela Marconetto; Yves Landu took a unanimous decision victory over Walter Cogliandro with scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27; Simon Biyong pounded out Walter Cogliandro with punches from mount position to get a TKO stoppage at 3:36 of Round 2; Nicolo Solli defeated Bourama Camara via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28); Luke Trainer used a rear-naked choke to submit Lucas Alsina after just 1:54 of action; Steven Hill picked up a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 30-26) win over Andrea Fusi; and Sarvardzhon Khamidov picked up an impressive TKO win over Jose Maria Tome with a well-placed body kick and punches at 1:01 of Round 1.