Mansour Barnaoui (born September 20, 1992) is a Tunisian-French

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division of PFL.

Background

Residing nowadays in

Malakoff, Hauts-de-Seine Malakoff () is a suburban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department southwest of Paris, France. Located from the Kilometre zero, centre of the city, it had a population of 30,286 in 2016. The European Org ...

, Mansour was born in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, immigrating to France as an infant, where he lived in difficult circumstances and sharing a small apartment with his three brothers and his mother. Faradji, friend and manager of Mansour, met Barnaoui when he lived in the same building as him and saw him squatting in the hall with friends, after they were unable to afford to register at the nearby wrestling room in

Vanves Vanves () is a Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe and the tenth in France. History On ...

. Faradji went to the town hall of Malakoff to ask for slots in a municipal hall, and after he was granted access, a few weeks later, the small band of Malakoff could finally train at the municipal gymnasium and the Magnum club was born. Aziz Mahi, Barnaoui's trainer in France, welcomed him to his gymnasium in the suburbs of Paris when he was only 14 years old. He quickly understood that he had the makings of a champion and went from grappling, to boxing, to pankration and then to train MMA When he was younger, Barnaoui would skateboard and emulate

Yamakasi The Yamakasi () are the original group of '' l'art du deplacement'' (parkour) practitioners from Lisses, France. The nine original members were David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle, Yann Hnautra, Laurent Piemontesi, ...

parkour, earning the nickname Tarzan from the neighborhood grown-ups''.'' Likewise, due to his immigration status, Mansour is not a French citizen due to the nature of his arrival to France. This means that all of his MMA contracts need to be signed outside of the country.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

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 a loss to future UFC top contender Kevin Lee during Instinct MMA 4 in Canada. After rebounding with a first round TKO stoppage at SHC 7, Cage Warriors approached Barnaoui and offered him a fight against

Conor McGregor Conor Anthony McGregor (born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) UFC Featherweight Championship, Featherweight and UFC Lightweight Championship, Li ...

. The organizers were offering the fight between the two on the condition that Mansour signed a two-year contract with them. However, Mansour chose to instead sign with

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with oth ...

as the promotion was offering 10,000 and 15,000 euros per fight compared to the 2000 to 3000 euros at the

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under ...

. A few days before his first fight for M-1 on April 9, 2013 at M-1 Challenge 38, against future UFC champion

Islam Makhachev Islam Ramazanovich Makhachev (; born 27 October 1991) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and former sambo competitor. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the cu ...

, Mansour's father died. However, he decided to still fight and lost a hard fought bout via unanimous decision. Rebounding against Zulfikar Usmanov at M-1 Challenge 41, he submitted Usmanov via rear-naked choke in the third round. The Tunisian continued his momentum by winning a belt in another European organization,

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

, winning the BAMMA World Lightweight Championship and defending it against UFC vets Curt Warburton and

Colin Fletcher Colin Fletcher (14 March 1922 – 12 June 2007) was a pioneering backpacker and writer. In 1963, Fletcher walked the length of that portion of Grand Canyon contained within the 1963 boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. Although hi ...

. Returning to M-1, Barnaoui won the M-1 Lightweight Championship against Maxim Divnich at M-1 Challenge 57, defeating Divnich via TKO stoppage after dropping him with a knee at the end of the first round and finishing him with ground and pound. Dropping down to Featherweight for the first and only time in his career for a chance for the M-1 Featherweight Championship against Ivan Buchinger at M-1 Challenge 62, Mansour lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki

On May 27, 2016, at KSW 35, he fought for the vacant KSW Lightweight Championship belt against future UFC fighter

Mateusz Gamrot Mateusz Gamrot (born December 11, 1990) is a Polish professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gamrot is a former Konfr ...

. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. In his next bout for the promotion, Barnaoui faced Łukasz Chlewicki on December 3, 2016, at KSW 37. He won the bout via doctor stoppage in the first round.

Road FC

In the International Trials, he defeated Won Bin Ki at Road FC 038 by the way of first-round rear-naked choke, earning a spot in the

Road Fighting Championship Road Fighting Championship (Road FC; ) is a South Korean-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which was officially launched in 2010. Prior to December 2016, Road FC had held 52 events in three countries - South Korea, Japan, and China. Abou ...

's 16-man Road FC $1 Million Dollar Lightweight Tournament. In the opening round, Barnaoui faced Chang Hyun Kim at Road FC 040 on July 15, 2017, winning by the way of first round rear-naked choke. In the quarterfinals, he faced Nandin-Erdene Munguntsooj at Road FC 044 on November 11, 2017, where earned another submission victory via rear-naked choke, this time in the second round. In the semifinals, Barnanoui faced Kota Shimoishi at Road FC 046 on March 10, 2018, where he submitted Shimoishi with a rear-naked choke in the third round to earn his way into the tournament final. In the final at Road FC 052 on February 23, 2019, Barnaoui faced Khabib's cousin,

Shamil Zavurov Shamil Magomedovich Zavurov (; born July 4, 1984) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist, who competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2004, he is the former M-1 Global World Wel ...

, knocking him out with a highlight flying knee in the third round. On May 18, 2019, at Road FC 053. Barnaoui won the $1 million dollar prize and the Road FC Lightweight Championship against A Sol Kwon, submitting Kwon in the first round via rear-naked choke. During the next three years in the pandemic, the snowboarding enthusiast escaped to the mountains whenever he could and due to the pandemic restrictions shutting down his base camp at the Jacques-Duclos gymnasium in Malakoff, he went to train in Dubai, one of the few accessible places with open rooms. He also trained in Thailand and spent six months in Las Vegas, at the 10th Planet and Xtreme Couture, where he was able to train against many talented fighters from the top promotions.

Bellator MMA

In June 2022, Barnaoui signed an exclusive multi-fight deal with

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

. Barnaoui made his promotional debut headlining

Bellator 287 ''Bellator 287: Piccolotti vs. Barnaoui'' (also known as ''Bellator Milan'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA, that took place on October 29, 2022, at the Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, Italy. Background The event marke ...

on October 29, 2022, against Adam Piccolotti. He won the bout in a very dominant fashion, finishing Piccolotti in the second round via rear-naked choke.

Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix

On January 11, 2023, Barnaoui was announced as one of the 8 participants in the $1 million Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix. Barnaoui was scheduled to face Sidney Outlaw on May 12, 2023, at

Bellator 296 ''Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards'' (also known as ''Bellator Paris'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on May 12, 2023, at Accor Arena in Paris, France. Background The event marked the promotion's thir ...

. However at the end of February, Outlaw tested positive for banned substances and was suspended, resulting in him being replaced by the alternate,

Brent Primus Brent Primus (born April 12, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing for the PFL. He formerly competed for Bellator MMA, where he was a one-time Bellator Lightweight World Champion. Background Born and raised in Eugene, O ...

. Barnaoui lost the back-and-forth bout by unanimous decision.

Post Grand Prix

Barnaoui faced Jay-Jay Wilson on September 23, 2023, at

Bellator 299 ''Bellator 299: Eblen vs. Edwards'' (also known as ''Bellator Dublin'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA, that took place on September 23, 2023, at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background The event marked the promotio ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Barnaoui faced Yusuke Yachi on May 17, 2024 at Bellator Champions Series 2. He won the fight by a brado choke submission in the first round. Barnaoui faced Alfie Davis on November 29, 2024, at PFL 10. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the third round. Barnaoui was scheduled to face Archie Colgan in the main event on May 23, 2025, at PFL Europe Paris. However in early May, the organization announced that the event was cancelled. The bout was re-scheduled and took place as a title eliminator on June 20, 2025, at PFL 6. Barnaoui lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

** Road FC Lightweight Championship (One time) ** Road FC $1 Million Dollar Lightweight Tournament 'Road To A-Sol' *

** M-1 Lightweight Championship (One time) *

** BAMMA World Lightweight Championship (One time) *** One successful title defense * 100% Fight ** 100% Fight Lightweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 22–7 , Archie Colgan , Decision (unanimous) , PFL 6 (2025) , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 22–6 , Alfie Davis , Submission (rear-naked choke) , PFL 10 (2024) , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:41 ,

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, Saudi Arabia , , - , Win , align=center, 21–6 , Yusuke Yachi , Submission (brabo choke) , Bellator Champions Series 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:08 ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–6 , Jay Jay Wilson , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–5 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 20–4 , Adam Piccolotti , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:51 ,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 19–4 , Kwon A-sol , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Road FC 053 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:44 , Jeju, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 18–4 ,

, KO (flying knee) , Road FC 052 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 17–4 , Kota Shimoishi , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Road FC 046 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:47 ,

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 16–4 , Nandin-Erdene Munguntsooj , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Road FC 044 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:02 ,

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...

, China , , - , Win , align=center, 15–4 , Kim Chang-hyun , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Road FC 040 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:28 ,

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 , Ki Won-bin , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Road FC 038 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:46 ,

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Łukasz Chlewicki , TKO (doctor stoppage) , KSW 37 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:09 ,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , KSW 35 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–3 , Ivan Buchinger , Decision (unanimous) , M-1 Challenge 62 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 12–2 , Maxim Divnich , TKO (knee and punches) , M-1 Challenge 57 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:47 ,

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , Colin Fletcher , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:00 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Curt Warburton , TKO (punches) , BAMMA 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:08 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Zulfikar Usmanov , Submission (rear-naked choke) , M-1 Challenge 41 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:19 ,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , M-1 Challenge 38 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Ivan Musardo , TKO (punches) , SHC 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:03 ,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–1 , Kevin Lee , Decision (unanimous) , Instinct MMA: Instinct Fighting 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Brad Wheeler , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Cage Warriors: Fight Night 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:26 ,

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Araik Margarian , Submission (rear-naked choke) , 100% Fight 7 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:03 ,

Aubervilliers Aubervilliers () is a communes of France, commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis departments of France, department, Île-de-France regions of France, region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. Geography Localisation Aubervilliers is one of th ...

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Yves Landu , Decision (split) , rowspan=2, 100% Fight 5 , rowspan=2, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , rowspan=2,

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Julien Boussuge , TKO (knees) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:51 , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Chabane Chaibeddra , Submission (north-south choke) , rowspan=3, 100% Fight: Contenders 10 , rowspan=3, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:07 , rowspan=3,

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Gregoire Lambert , Submission (north-south choke) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:25 , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Gaetan Hurtel , Submission (rear-naked choke) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:00 ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnaoui, Mansour 1992 births Living people Tunisian male mixed martial artists French male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing pankration Bellator male fighters Martial artists from Tunis 21st-century French sportsmen