Brennan Ward knows his name might not generate the same kind of interest as Chael Sonnen, Tito Ortiz or even his Bellator 170 opponent, Paul Daley.
But Ward fully understands that the promotion has given him a chance to make a statement January 21 when he meets Daley in the co-main event.
“They don’t just line two guys up like Paul and I for no reason – on a card like this, that is probably the biggest card of the year and one of the biggest Bellator cards of all-time,” Ward said. “They’re putting our match up on there for a reason. They know fireworks are going to go off and they know this fight isn’t going the distance. Paul and I end fights, it’s what we do.”
Ward (14-4) has won five of his last six, including a November first round knockout of Saad Awad. He’s also finished Ken Hasegawa, Dennis Olson, Roger Carroll and Curtis Millender over the past year-plus.
Brennan Ward knows his name might not generate the same kind of interest as Chael Sonnen, Tito Ortiz or even his Bellator 170 opponent, Paul Daley.
But Ward fully understands that the promotion has given him a chance to make a statement January 21 when he meets Daley in the co-main event.
“They don’t just line two guys up like Paul and I for no reason – on a card like this, that is probably the biggest card of the year and one of the biggest Bellator cards of all-time,” Ward said. “They’re putting our match up on there for a reason. They know fireworks are going to go off and they know this fight isn’t going the distance. Paul and I end fights, it’s what we do.”
Ward (14-4) has won five of his last six, including a November first round knockout of Saad Awad. He’s also finished Ken Hasegawa, Dennis Olson, Roger Carroll and Curtis Millender over the past year-plus.
The card for Bellator 170 is shaping up as the promotion recently announced that a welterweight showdown pitting Paul Daley (38-14-2) against Brennan Ward (14-4) has been added to the main card of the event. The bout joins the main card that is headlined by a clash between veterans Tito Ortiz (18-12-1) and Chael Sonnen (28-14-1).
The card for Bellator 170 is shaping up as the promotion recently announced that a welterweight showdown pitting Paul Daley (38-14-2) against Brennan Ward (14-4) has been added to the main card of the event.
The bout joins the main card that is headlined by a clash between veterans Tito Ortiz (18-12-1) and Chael Sonnen (28-14-1). Ralek Gracie (3-0) against Hisaki Kato (7-2) will also be featured on the main card.
Pauley has recorded victories in nine of his last 11 bouts, and took current welterweight champion Douglas Lima to the limit in his bout but lost it by decision at Bellator 158.
Ward enters the contest following a brutal knockout blow that he delivered just 1:26 into his bout with Saad Awad at Bellator 163. The win was Ward’s ninth under the direction of Bellator MMA and fifth of his last six fights, dating back to 2015.
The event takes place on January 21st at The Forum in Inglewood, California and will be broadcast live and free on SPIKE at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and the Bellator Mobile App. Tickets for this event start at $36 and are on sale now at Bellator.com, as well as Ticketmaster.com. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card for the event:
Main Card
Light Heavyweight Main Event: Tito Ortiz (18-12-1) vs. Chael Sonnen (28-14-1)
Middleweight Main Card Bout: Ralek Gracie (3-0) vs. Hisaki Kato (7-2)
Welterweight Main Card Bout: Paul Daley (38-14-2) vs. Brennan Ward (14-4)
Preliminary Card
Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Gabriel Green (3-0) vs. Jalin Turner (2-1)
Catchweight Preliminary Bout: Christian Gonzalez (1-0) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (2-0)
A welterweight contest between Paul Daley and Brennan Ward has been added to Bellator 170, according to a report by ESPN.
Daley, who turns 34 early next year, had his five-fight win str…
A welterweight contest between Paul Daley and Brennan Ward has been added to Bellator 170, according to a report by ESPN.
Daley, who turns 34 early next year, had his five-fight win streak snapped by Douglas Lima in July. Lima went on to reclaim the Bellator welterweight title.
Ward has gone 5-1 over his last six, suffering only a submission loss to Evangelista Santos in April.
Bellator 170 takes place January 21 from The Forum and airs on Spike. In the main event, Tito Ortiz welcomes Chael Sonnen to the promotion in a light heavyweight contest.
Bellator has two big events coming up with Bellator 152 on April 16th and Bellator 153 the week after. Benson Henderson will be making his highly-anticipated Bellator debut on April 22nd when he faces Andrey Koreshkov for the Welterweight Championship. But a fighter to watch on that card is Brennan Ward (13-3).
Ward is currently riding a four-fight win streak (all finishes). He will be facing Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (20-16) at Bellator 153. “The Irish Bad Boy” was the winner of the Bellator Season Nine Middleweight Tournament. The 27 year-old is an exceptional wrestler with tremendous knockout power in his right hand.
He has stated that he is always trying to finish an opponent and hates decisions. Watch Ward get fired up before his bout with “Cyborg”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dLhh9sR92M
Bellator has two big events coming up with Bellator 152 on April 16th and Bellator 153 the week after. Benson Henderson will be making his highly-anticipated Bellator debut on April 22nd when he faces Andrey Koreshkov for the Welterweight Championship. But a fighter to watch on that card is Brennan Ward (13-3).
Ward is currently riding a four-fight win streak (all finishes). He will be facing Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (20-16) at Bellator 153. “The Irish Bad Boy” was the winner of the Bellator Season Nine Middleweight Tournament. The 27 year-old is an exceptional wrestler with tremendous knockout power in his right hand.
He has stated that he is always trying to finish an opponent and hates decisions. Watch Ward get fired up before his bout with “Cyborg”:
It’s Friday night, and that means Bellator! This was the promotion’s 114th outing, and it was a feisty one. It featured the semifinals of the season 10 featherweight tournament and one semifinal bout of the middleweight tournament. The Bellator middleweight title was also up for grabs.
The event opened with UFC vet Kendall Grove taking on Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper. This was a middleweight tournament semifinal bout, the only one of the night.
Early in the first round, Cooper landed a stiff leg kick that floored Grove. Cooper pounced on him, but Grove reversed his fortunes. He took Cooper’s back and maintained the position for the rest of the round. He was unable to secure a rear naked choke despite several attempts. Towards the end of the round he resorted to ground and pound. As he poured more on, Cooper wilted and turtled, but he was saved by the bell.
The second round was much closer. Both fighters managed to pepper each other. Grove worked his jab, and Cooper’s money combination was a left uppercut followed by a straight right. It was this same combo that sent Grove crashing to the mat late in the second frame. Some vicious follow-up ground and pound from Cooper starched Grove and Big John McCarthy stepped in, perhaps a little too late.
It’s Friday night, and that means Bellator! This was the promotion’s 114th outing, and it was a feisty one. It featured the semifinals of the season 10 featherweight tournament and one semifinal bout of the middleweight tournament. The Bellator middleweight title was also up for grabs.
The event opened with UFC vet Kendall Grove taking on Bellator mainstay Brett Cooper. This was a middleweight tournament semifinal bout, the only one of the night.
Early in the first round, Cooper landed a stiff leg kick that floored Grove. Cooper pounced on him, but Grove reversed his fortunes. He took Cooper’s back and maintained the position for the rest of the round. He was unable to secure a rear naked choke despite several attempts. Towards the end of the round he resorted to ground and pound. As he poured more on, Cooper wilted and turtled, but he was saved by the bell.
The second round was much closer. Both fighters managed to pepper each other. Grove worked his jab, and Cooper’s money combination was a left uppercut followed by a straight right. It was this same combo that sent Grove crashing to the mat late in the second frame. Some vicious follow-up ground and pound from Cooper starched Grove and Big John McCarthy stepped in, perhaps a little too late.
The next match was the first featherweight tournament semifinal. Des Green faced Will Martinez. After a minute or two of feeling out, Martinez landed a tremendous right hand that wobbled Green. Green managed to maintain his composure though, shooting for a double leg, driving Martinez completely across the cage and taking him down. Martinez stood back up shortly after hitting the mat. Some sloppy striking exchanges ensued, with both fighters missing big. Martinez hit Green with a wicked body kick, then clinched and started dirty boxing. He maintained dominance over the striking for the rest of the first round, scoring with right hands at will—that is until he was taken down with about a minute to go in the round. Green hit a couple of great right hands from inside Martinez’s guard, and Martinez landed a nice upkick. The rounded ended with a bit of blood coming from Martinez’s mouth.
Green started the second round aggressive. Martinez made him pay with a left hand that wobbled him. Nevertheless, Green pushed through it and clinched with Martinez, taking his back while standing and tenderizing Martinez’s thighs with knees. After about a minute or two of this, Green slammed Martinez with a stunning suplex. Repetition was the story for the rest of the round. Green sat in Martinez’s guard. Martinez went for a submission, and Green avoided it.
The third round began with Martinez rushing forwards, throwing three jabs and slipping. After that, Martinez intentionally parked himself against the fence. It appeared as though Martinez was attempting to bait Green. It worked, but not as Martinez intended. Green came in and nailed him with a right hand. Martinez recovered quickly. Very late in the round, Martinez rocked Green with a left hook, but it was too little, too late. Green ended the fight with a takedown, practically guaranteeing the round and the fight. The judges agreed with this assessment; Green won a unanimous decision victory.
The co-main event, and last featherweight tournament semifinal, pitted Daniel Weichel against Matt Bessette. Things started off poorly for Bessette. Weichel floored him with a straight right counter to a leg kick. Weichel followed it up with some ground and pound; Bessette’s rubber guard was ineffective. The first round stalled out at that point. Weichel didn’t pass into half guard until there was a minute left in the first round. Bessette managed to escape with about 30 seconds left, but received a stiff knee to the face for his efforts.
Weichel started round 2 by literally shoving Bessette to the canvas. He let Bessette return to his feet. The two exchanged knees. There were some more missed or otherwise meaningless strikes. Bessette was the more active fighter, which might’ve won him the round on the scorecards, though the same claim could be made for a takedown Weichel scored late in the round (but Bessette rose to his feet immediately afterwards).
Bessette tried to continue turning the pace up in the third frame but Weichel stymied him with a takedown. He spent much of the round in Bessette’s guard, easily shrugging off submission attempts and stalling until the end of the fight. Not surprisingly, the judges awarded Weichel with a unanimous decision win. He’ll be meeting Des Green in the finals.
The night’s main event featured a middleweight title fight between champion Alexander Shlemenko and challenger Brennan Ward. Ward frustrated Shlemenko early on, hitting the champ with a good uppercut as well as a stiff knee. He also managed to evade and block much of Shlemenko’s offense..that was until he ate a few punches and a knee. Shlemenko blocked a Ward takedown but wound up pressed against the fence. A low blow from Ward put a stop to the action for a minute. After the fight resumed, Ward took Shlemenko’s back. A neck crank failed to end the fight. A rare stand-up from the back occurred (we still don’t know what Big John was thinking) and the two started wildly exchanging. Shlemenko wobbled Ward with a hook, but he still had enough composure to drag the Russian to the mat and take his back a second time. He couldn’t sink in a choke before the round ended.
The two exchanged hooks to start the next round. Shlemenko hit a trio of knees to Ward’s body and missed an outside trip. He followed that up with a nasty round kick to the body. Ward tried to take Shlemenko down off a kick, but wound up in an extremely tight guillotine, so tight that Ward tapped before Shlemenko even dropped to guard. A good showing from Ward, though. He gave Shlemenko a tougher fight in the first round than most expected.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Alexander Shlemenko def. Brennan Ward via submission (guillotine), 1:22 of round 2
Daniel Weichel def. Matt Bessette via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Desmond Green def. Will Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Brett Cooper def. Kendall Grove via KO (punches), 3:33 of round 2
Preliminary Card
Justin Wilcox def. Jason Fischer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bubba Jenkins def. Sean Powers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Linton Vassell def. Trevor Carlson via submission (rear naked choke), 1:54 of round 2
Gavin Sterritt def. Mike Estus via submission (guillotine choke), 3:29 of round 1
Joe Rodriguez def. Eric Wahlin via submission (arm triangle), 2:06 of round 2
Bellator 107 was a crucial show for Bellator. Over one million people were exposed to their product last week. Did they wow anyone who decided to tune in for a second week in a row?
Yes and no.
They made a poor decision in starting the card with a fight between virtually unknown fighter Derek Campos and disappointing British prospectMartin Stapleton. Any converts from the previous event likely switched channels after this fight started; it was that bad. The only notable part of this contest was when Stapleton’s knee almost went out (or at least that’s what it looked like) during a spinning backfist attempt, resulting in a crazy jig. Campos won via unanimous decision.
Fortunately, the second fight of the night picked up the pace a little bit. After a lackluster first round, the middleweight tournament final between Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward ended in fireworks. In what can only be described as “beast mode,” Ward battered Parlo’s body with sledgehammer-like punches (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA), and then started teeing off on Parlo’s head. Ward battered Parlo so badly that the fight was stopped while Parlo was still standing. It was one of the best displays of the pure violence inherent in MMA in recent memory.
Get the run down of the co-main and main event after the jump.
(Photo via Bellator MMA)
Bellator 107 was a crucial show for Bellator. Over one million people were exposed to their product last week. Did they wow anyone who decided to tune in for a second week in a row?
Yes and no.
They made a poor decision in starting the card with a fight between virtually unknown fighter Derek Campos and disappointing British prospectMartin Stapleton. Any converts from the previous event likely switched channels after this fight started; it was that bad. The only notable part of this contest was when Stapleton’s knee almost went out (or at least that’s what it looked like) during a spinning backfist attempt, resulting in a crazy jig. Campos won via unanimous decision.
Fortunately, the second fight of the night picked up the pace a little bit. After a lackluster first round, the middleweight tournament final between Mikkel Parlo and Brennan Ward ended in fireworks. In what can only be described as “beast mode,” Ward battered Parlo’s body with sledgehammer-like punches (GIF via @ZProphet_MMA), and then started teeing off on Parlo’s head. Ward battered Parlo so badly that the fight was stopped while Parlo was still standing. It was one of the best displays of the pure violence inherent in MMA in recent memory.
The bantamweight tournament final was the night’s co-main event. Joe Warren faced off against Travis Marx. After a first round that saw more grinding than a senior prom, Warren dropped Marx with a perfectly-timed knee and finished him off with punches.
Bellator 107′s main event and heavyweight tournament final pitted Cheick Kongo against Vinicius “Spartan” Queiroz’s replacement, Peter Graham. Kongo added a smattering of aggression into his usual “clinch against the cage indefinitely” strategy, but the fight still left a lot to be desired. Kongo won a unanimous decision victory.
Overall, the event was barely okay. The two poor fights bookended the two good fights. This meant viewers started off with a bad taste in their figurative mouths, and then left the card with the same taste. A card that left viewers feeling unsatisfied was the last thing Bellator needed the week after the biggest event in their history, and the week before their biggest star—Rampage Jackson—is fighting.
Here are the complete results for Bellator 107:
Main Card
Cheick Kongo def. Peter Graham via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Warren def. Travis Marx via TKO (knee and punches), 1:54 of Round 2
Brennan Ward def. Mikkel Parlo via TKO (punches), 1:39 of Round 2
Derek Campos def. Martin Stapleton via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Patricky Freire def. Edson Berto via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Jonas Billstein def. Cortez Coleman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mike Mucitelli def. Ryan McCurdy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Raphael Butler def. Josh Burns via verbal submission (punches), 2:14 of Round 1
Linton Vassell def. Matt Jones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
