Bellator 287 serves as the promotion’s return to Italy. It takes place on Saturday, October 29th in Milan. The event is headlined by a lightweight affair between Adam Piccolotii and Mansour Barnoaui.
Adam Piccolotti vs. Mansour Banoaui
Piccolotti sports a 13 – 4 professional record. The AKA member sit out the entire previous year due to injuries and other health issues. He returned to the cage at Bellator 274 in February, where he defeated Georgi Karakhanyan. Now he looks to make a statement by defeating Barnoaui and getting a spot in the planned for the 2023 Bellator Lightweight GrandPrix.
Barnaoui has a 19 – 4 record and will be making his Bellator debut. Interestingly enough, he returns to action after a three years hiatus. He previously fought for a variety of European promotions such as M-1 Global and KSW. During this tenure, he faced such noteworthy opponents as Islam Makhachev, Mateusz Gamrot, and Kevin Lee. In the next stage of his career, he switched his attention to South Korea’s ROAD FC promotion. There he managed to win a tournament and grab a $1 million prize money. He comes to Bellator strong due to his seven-fight winning streak.
Fabian Edwards vs. Charlie Ward
Edwards is a UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards’ brother. He made his promotional debut back in 2017. At Bellator 179 he knocked out Rafał Cejrowski in a highlight fashion with a flying knee. After stacking up four wins in the now-defunct BAMMA promotion he made his way back to the Bellator’s circular cage. After stacking up another four consecutive wins he was riding a nine-fight winning streak. It was put to an end by Costello van Steenis at Bellator Euro Series 8. He lost again to Austin Vanderford at Bellator 259. Edwards bounce back by beating Lyoto Machida at Bellator 281.
Ward is a UFC veteran, who also made his promotional debut back in 2017. He stopped John Redmond with a TKO finish at Bellator 187 and followed it with three additional wins. The four-fight winning streak was stopped by a decision loss to Pietro Penini at Bellator London back in 2019. Since then the Irish man bounced back by defeating Kyle Kurtz Andy Manzolo and Alan Carlos.
Rest of the card:
Justin Gonzales will go against Andrew Fisher in a bout that could steal all the fans’ attention. In the feature bout of the preliminaries, Davy Gallon will square off against Daniele Scatizzi. Kamil Oniszczuk, who is BABILON MMA and ACA veteran and has a 9 – 1 record, will make his Bellator debut against Costello van Steenis.
Bellator 287 results:
Main Card (Showtime – 4:00pm ET / 1:00pm PT):
Mansour Barnaoui def. Adam Piccolotti via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 2:51 of Round 2
Fabian Edwards def. Charlie Ward via Unanimous Decision (29 – 28, 30 – 27)
Tim Wilde def. Saul Rogers via Split Decision (29 – 28, 29 – 28, 29 – 28)
Justin Gonzales def. Andrew Fisher via Unanimous Decision (30 – 27, 30 – 27, 30 – 27)
Preliminary Card (YouTube – 12:30pm ET / 9:30am PT):
Daniele Scatizzi def. Davy Gallon via Unanimous Decision (29 – 28, 29 – 28, 29 – 28)
Costello van Steenis def. Kamil Oniszczuk via Submission (D’arce Choke) at 3:02 of Round 2
Alfie Davis def. Thibault Gouti via Unanimous Decision (30 – 27, 30 – 27, 30 – 27)
Chiara Penco def. Manuela Marconetto via Split Decision (29 – 28, 29 – 28, 30 – 27)
Yves Landu def. Walter Cogliandro via Unanimous Decision (30 – 26, 30 – 27, 30 – 27)
Simon Biyong def. Dragos Zubco via TKO (Punches) at 3:36 of Round 2
Nicolò Solli def. Bourama Camara via Split Decision (29 – 28, 29 – 28, 29 – 28)
Luke Trainer def. Lucas Alsina via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) at 1:54 of Round 1
Steven Hill def. Andrea Fusi via Unanimous Decision (30 – 27, 29 – 27, 30 – 26)
Sarvadzhon Hamidov def. José Maria Tomé via TKO (Body kick and punches) at 1:01 of Round 1
