Bellator Milan's Adam Piccolotti 'Super Proud' of his Italian Ancestry

When Adam Piccolotti competes for the first time outside the United States, he will have a large group of Italian supporters to cheer for him. Piccolotti (13-4, 9-4 Bellator) is headlining the upcoming Bellator 287 event as he takes on Frenchman Mansour Barnaoui in Milan, Italy, on Oct. 29. “The Bomb” is hoping to follow up with another victory after defeating Georgi Karakhanyan via unanimous decision at Bellator 274 in February. While talking with Sherdog, Piccolotti revealed he’s happy his first assignment outside the U.S. will go down in his family’s homeland, Italy. While he knows little about the origins of his family, who moved to the U.S. from Italy at some point, he was raised by his father with a certain pride in his Italian roots.

“Unfortunately, I don't know almost anything about my origins. My dad is very tight-lipped. I didn't know if he didn't know much [since] my grandfather's relationship and his was always rocky. He's from a giant Italian family of 11 kids. There was not the most time to sit down and have those conversations. Whenever I try to kind of press him on the issue, I kind of get the workaround, right? Really, I'm not too sure. We've always been a super proud Italian family. Italian American for sure. Fighting in Milan or Italy at all has always been on my radar ever since Bellator ran to Italy for the first time. I'm super honored.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:21) Becoming a father and his son’s health issues
(01:43) Training at American Kickboxing Academy
(02:01) His sparring partners
(02:26) Commenting on Barnaoui
(03:05) Fighting outside the U.S. for the first time
(03:57) Dealing with jet lag
(04:23) Talking about his Italian origins
(05:22) Planning to visit Italy sooner or later
(07:00) His cornermen
(07:58) Defeating Karakhanyan
(09:02) His walkout song
(09:57) His prediction for the fight
(10:23) Outro