There was little question as to what Logan Storley and Brennan Ward had to offer in the Bellator 298 main event on Friday.
Storley, a former interim welterweight champion in the company, was a stellar wrestler with a stifling ground game. Ward was an explosive striker, a brawler, who had overcome personal demons including years of addiction to reemerge in MMA last year.
Logan Storley opened with a leg kick, while Ward stalked the former interim champ and popped his jab. Not surprisingly, there was an early takedown by Storley, but Ward defended with a choke and scrambled out. Another takedown attempt led to another choke attempt by Ward, and Storley was going to have to be careful with his neck. The next takedown by Storley was reversed, only to be reversed again, and this time, Storley got to spend some time in control. From half-guard, Storley went body-head with punches; plenty of time remained on the clock, a full half-round.
Lots of top time, and shots to the body, followed. Storley didn’t do a ton of damage, but was active enough to maintain the position.
Ward opened the second with a jab; Storley answered with a leg kick. Ward fired a right hand, and his uppercut. As he had in the first, Brennan Ward found success early in the round, mixing in a jab to the body this time. But Storley came under a punch to land an explosive takedown, planting Ward on his back against the fence.
From bottom, Ward goaded Storley into standing up— Storley wasn’t biting, and instead moved to mount briefly, dropping ground n’ pound. Ward gave up his back, looking to escape. He covered up, got to a knee, but was dragged back down. Moments later, after another barrage of ground n’ pound, Storley had the TKO, with the ref waving things off as Ward covered up! Ward was not happy with the stoppage, but the visual wasn’t great.
Following the fight, Storley said the plan was to go 2-0 after his loss to Yaroslav Amosov earlier this year. He’s now halfway to his goal — after that, he’s looking for a title shot.
Official Result: Logan Storley def. Brennan Ward by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 2, 4:05
