Mansour Barnaoui (19-4) may not be one of MMA’s most recognizable faces to casual fans, but still just 29-years-old, he’s built a remarkably successful career fighting inside rings and cages all around the world.
A longtime product of Team Magnum MMA in Paris, France, the ‘Afro-Samurai’ got his start in the hybrid-MMA promotion 100% Fight, back before full-rules mixed martial arts had been legalized in the country. A 6-0 run early in his pro career was halted by losses to future UFC top contenders Kevin Lee and Islam Makhachev.
Between 2013-15 Barnaoui captured lightweight titles for BAMMA (defeating UFC vets Curt Warburton and Colin Fletcher), and M-1 Global.