Bellator MMA will head back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota in August for Bellator 298, with a welterweight showdown headlining the card.
Set to take place at the Sanford Pentagon on August 11, 2023, Bellator 298 will see former interim welterweight champ Logan Storley (14-2) take on the hard-hitting Brennan Ward (17-6) in a five-round main event.
Bellator officials announced the news via press release on Monday. MMA Junkie was first to report the booking.
Ward has been resurgent after returning to action last year following a four and a half year layoff, during which time he dealt with addiction issues. He’s now won three straight since making his comeback, most recently finishing Sabah Homasi at Bellator 290 in February.
Storley won the interim 170lb title in Bellator care of a split decision win over Michael “Venom” Page in May of 2022. The interim belt was necessitated by the absence of Yaroslav Amosov, who had stepped away from fighting to assist in the defense of his native Ukraine against Russian invasion.
Amosov returned to action earlier this year, however, defeating Storley to unify the titles. That leaves “Storm” looking to return to the win column at home in South Dakota.
Among several fights announced on Monday, the #2 ranked Bellator heavyweight Valentin Moldavsky (11-3, 1 NC) will face off against Steve Mowry (10-0-1, 1 NC), who holds the #3 ranking in the promotion. The fight is expected to serve as the evening’s co-main event.
In middleweight action, meanwhile, Dalton Rosta (8-0) puts his undefeated record on the line against Canadian Aaron Jeffery (13-4). A final main card match-up announced in Monday’s press release sees #6 and #7-ranked lightweights Sidney Outlaw (16-5) and Islam Mamedov (22-2-1) throw down.
One preliminary card fight was also announced by Bellator officials on Monday. That sees featherweight Lucas Brennan (7-0) paired up with Brazil’s Weber Almeida (7-1).
