Longtime Bellator fighter Brennan Ward enters 2024 PFL welterweight season

One of the longest tenured Bellator fighters ever, Brennan Ward has stepped into a vacancy in the 2024 PFL welterweight season.

The new era of PFL is here and [autotag]Brennan Ward[/autotag] 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 [autotag]Kyle Crutchmer[/autotag], 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 [autotag]Don Madge[/autotag] (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.