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.
𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Your updated 2024 PFL Welterweights roster set to bring the action in the Windy City on April 19th
-Kyle Crutchmer is OUT
-Brennan Ward is in the 2024 #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/4lJXj3gUp3— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 17, 2024
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.