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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Nolan King

Longtime Bellator fighter Brennan Ward enters 2024 PFL welterweight season

The new era of PFL is here and Brennan Ward will be a part of it.

One of the longest tenured members of the Bellator roster, Ward (17-7) enters the 2024 PFL welterweight regular season as a replacement for fellow import Kyle Crutchmer, promotion officials recently informed MMA Junkie.

Ward’s first regular season bout will take place April 19 at 2024 PFL 3 in Chicago as he faces former UFC fighter Don Madge (10-4-1) in a three-round preliminary card bout at Wintrust Arena.

Ward, 35, joined Bellator in 2012. After 15 fights for the promotion including a title shot that he earned through a Bellator middleweight tournament, Ward retired from mixed martial arts. Behind the scenes, Ward struggled with severe drug addiction and other personal issues, which he revealed in a 2022 tell-all interview with MMA Junkie, shortly before he announced his sobriety and comeback.

Since his return to combat sports, Ward has gone 3-1 in MMA. After two warmup fights, Ward finished Sabah Homasi with strikes in the first Bellator fight on CBS. He then lost an August 2023 main event to Logan Storley by second-round TKO.

Madge, 33, has not competed since an April 2022 loss to Raush Manfio. The TKO defeat dropped him to 1-1 in his PFL tenure following a 2-0 UFC stint.

With the change, the current 2024 PFL 3 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Welterweight Regular Season Main Event: Andrey Koreshkov (27-4) vs. Magomed Umalatov (14-0)
  • Featherweight Regular Season Co-Main Event: Brendan Loughnane (27-5) vs. Pedro Carvalho (13-8)
  • Welterweight Regular Season Bout: Logan Storley (15-2) vs. Shamil Musaev (16-0-1)
  • Featherweight Regular Season Bout: Gabriel Braga (12-1) vs. Justin Gonzalez (14-3)
  • Welterweight Regular Season Bout: Goiti Yamauchi (28-6) vs. Neiman Gracie (12-4)
  • Featherweight Regular Season Bout: Bubba Jenkins (21-7) vs. Kai Kamaka (12-5-1)

PRELIMS (ESPN+, 6:30pm E.T.)

  • Featherweight Regular Season Bout: Adam Borics (18-2) vs. Enrique Barzola (20-7-2)
  • Featherweight Regular Season Bout: Timur Khizriev (14-0) vs. Brett Johns (20-3)
  • Welterweight Regular Season Bout: Laureano Staropoli (13-5) vs. Murad Ramazanov (11-0)
  • Welterweight Regular Season Bout: Don Madge (10-4-1) vs. Brennan Ward (17-7)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 3.

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