Brennan Ward has been through the ringer during the more than four years between fights going into Bellator 274.
Ward (14-6 MMA, 9-6 BMMA) was a Bellator mainstay and one of the most consistently exciting fighters on the roster before he was pulled away from the sport by a personal lift that was quickly unraveling due to addiction and other issues.
MMA Junkie published a lengthy feature documenting Ward’s struggles in detail. Now fight week has arrived, though, he’s prepared to turn the page to the next chapter of his combat career, starting with a 175-pound catchweight bout vs. Brandon Bell (7-10 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and streams on MMA Junkie prior to the main card on Showtime.
“It’s good to be back,” Ward told reporters at Thursday’s Bellator 274 media day. “It’s a long road back. It’s been tough. It was a long four years away from the cage. It was a tough road back. I’m glad to be here and I’m real proud to make my comeback at Mohegan Sun and put on a show for the fans and show everyone where I’ve been. I’ve worked real, real hard to get back here. So I’m going to put on a show.”
Ward, 33, admits he didn’t know how fight week was going to resonate with him after not competing since August 2017. A return to weight cutting hasn’t been particularly enjoyable, he said, but other than that, Ward said it feels like he never left.
“It is like riding a bike,” Ward said. “I’m back to feeling good. Cutting weight sucks. … I like to eat. I’m hungry and thirsty today obviously cutting. But yeah, it’s like riding a bike. It feels natural to me. It doesn’t feel like four years to me. It really doesn’t. It does not feel like four years.”
With everything clicking beyond expectations, Ward said he can’t help but get excited about the potential around his comeback. He said the original plan was to keep all his goals very short-term, but as the anticipation gears up to finally step back in the cage, Ward said the competitive juices are flowing and he seems long-term potential.
“I told myself I was going to take it one fight at a time,” Ward said. “But the way I feel, I feel so good. … I still got a couple years left that I can do some damage at 170 and at 185. I say one fight at a time, I work my full-time job and my company was nice enough to give me my last two weeks off in my last final push here, to do the media and the weight cut and all that. I’m going to end up making a run.
“I’m going to end up making a run because when I get older and I can’t make a run anymore, I’m going to end up saying, ‘Dude, you should’ve gone all the way when you made your comeback.’ So I’m probably going to go all the way with it.”
Ultimately, Ward’s performances will determine how far he can go. The matchup with a sub.-500 fight in Bell isn’t exactly a barometer of his championship potential, but it will certainly provide a certain degree of evidence as to what Ward has left to offer.
All 15 of Ward’s Bellator fights have ended inside the distance, and he doesn’t anticipate that trend to change with this matchup.
“I’ve watched some video on him – he’s a little muscle-ball,” Ward said. “He looks like a strong dude. He looks pretty explosive, but nothing I haven’t seen before. I’ve fought some of the best dudes in the world. But I respect him as an opponent. I take everybody very seriously. I don’t think he can hang with me in any facet of the game.
Brennan Ward sets lofty goals ahead of Bellator 274 return: ‘I’m going to end up making a run’