Brennan Ward gets next assignment: Bellator 282 vs. Kassius Kayne

Brennan Ward has his second fight booked since his return from hiatus.

At Bellator 282, Ward (15-6 MMA, 11-6 BMMA) will once again fight in front of his home state crowd when he takes on former Victory FC welterweight champion and LFA headliner Kassius Kayne (12-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a welterweight bout.

The event takes place June 24 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. with the main card on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

Two people with knowledge of the booking recently informed MMA Junkie of the matchup but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

In February, Ward, 33, returned from nearly five years away from mixed martial arts competition as a long-term drug addiction boiled over into unbearableness, as he revealed in an exclusive, tell-all interview with MMA Junkie in January. At Bellator 274, Ward fought Brandon Bell on a one-off deal with the promotion and won via second-round TKO. Weeks later, Ward signed a multifight deal with the promotion.

Kayne, 35, has competed for a handful of notable regional promotions with his losses coming mostly to fighters who went on to sign with the UFC or Bellator. He’s only competed three times since 2018, but went 2-1 in that stretch including an April unanimous decision win over Montrel James.

With the addition, the Bellator 282 lineup includes:

• Champion Gegard Mousasi vs. Johnny Eblen – for middleweight title
• Enrique Barzola vs. Magomed Magomedov – bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal
• Leandro Higo vs. Danny Sabatello – bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal
• Brent Primus vs. Alexander Shabliy
• Pam Sorenson vs. Cat Zingano
• Ilara Joanne vs. Alejandra Lara
• Dan Moret vs. Killys Mota
• Sabah Homasi vs. Maycon Mendoca
• Fabio Aguiar vs. Aaron Jeffery
• Bryce Logan vs. Mandel Nallo
• Lucas Brennan vs. Johnny Soto
• Kassius Kayne vs. Brennan Ward