Bellator FIghter Brennan Ward Retires From MMA

DIdn't see that coming, however as a longtime fan of Brennan's, he had said numerous times he was just in MMA for the money, he wasnt a fan of watching the sport, it was just something he liked to do and got paid for it.

Such an exciting all-action fighter, like Bellator's Mike Perry more than anything, but you could tell the moment his fire died down for MMA he was gonna be out. I really don't expect to see him back.

His career was mismanaged overall. He took a lot of fights he shouldn't have, and lost many of those fights. Barncat, Santos, etc.

Cap that all off with the Daley KO and it's understandable why it wasn't fun for him anymore.
 
Too bad I was hoping they would of gave him the alternate bout against Larkin.
Always looked forward to his fights.
 
He was in the fast lane to permanent brain damage. Happy to hear he still has the smarts to quit before it was to late.
 
Mickey Mick said:
DIdn't see that coming, however as a longtime fan of Brennan's, he had said numerous times he was just in MMA for the money, he wasnt a fan of watching the sport, it was just something he liked to do and got paid for it.

Such an exciting all-action fighter, like Bellator's Mike Perry more than anything, but you could tell the moment his fire died down for MMA he was gonna be out. I really don't expect to see him back.

His career was mismanaged overall. He took a lot of fights he shouldn't have, and lost many of those fights. Barncat, Santos, etc.

Cap that all off with the Daley KO and it's understandable why it wasn't fun for him anymore.
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Some great points about his career management. I think he was just letting his friends/training partners run his career essentially.

The fights he shouldn’t have taken and ended up losing, he took some serious body damage. Barncat KOed him really bad, and cyborg really jacked up his knee. I think his body is just not wanting to be put through the damage anymore. He did make $50k in the Daley fight though, so at least he was getting paid pretty good for a Bellator home grown guy who never won a title.
 
Hardcore MMA said:
Some great points about his career management. I think he was just letting his friends/training partners run his career essentially.

The fights he shouldn’t have taken and ended up losing, he took some serious body damage. Barncat KOed him really bad, and cyborg really jacked up his knee. I think his body is just not wanting to be put through the damage anymore. He did make $50k in the Daley fight though, so at least he was getting paid pretty good for a Bellator home grown guy who never won a title.
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People talk about the Daley knee KO, and rightfully so, but that 21 second Barncat knockout loss was brutal. Every punch landed FLUSH from a guy who hadn't fought in like six years at the time.

And you're right male Cyborg absolutely torqued Ward's leg something fierce. Brennan is still young but like everyone here said, his fighting style didn't lend itself to any kind of longevity.

He really was a Bellator homegrown star, especially in New England.

How great would it have been if Platinum Mike Perry and Brennan Ward have fought though?
 
I'll never forget one of Wards prefight promos (I forget the opponent).

"I train HARD!"
"I party HARD!"
"I fight HARD!"
"And I SMOKE HARD!!!"

and Jimmy Smith being legit dumbfounded that he'd actually admit that in a promo <Lmaoo>
 
He was always fun to watch and you could always throw him on the main card and be excited about.

Sad day for @irish_knock_out
 
The ultimate pull out. Not a weight cut issue, not an injury......a full on retirement.
 
Mickey Mick said:
People talk about the Daley knee KO, and rightfully so, but that 21 second Barncat knockout loss was brutal. Every punch landed FLUSH from a guy who hadn't fought in like six years at the time.

And you're right male Cyborg absolutely torqued Ward's leg something fierce. Brennan is still young but like everyone here said, his fighting style didn't lend itself to any kind of longevity.

He really was a Bellator homegrown star, especially in New England.

How great would it have been if Platinum Mike Perry and Brennan Ward have fought though?
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Bellator Mike Perry is perfect. 2 of my favorite fighters of all time. Would be an amazing fight.
 
He's really young to retire.
 
I liked him but i think daley took the fight out of him. Made him realize he's already reached his peak.
 
Ward peaked vs Shlemenko who submitted him but he never tried to grow as a fighter. He was an athletic young guy who had a "dude bro" personality that resonated with fans but if he had added more tools to his game and fought smarter he could have gone a lot further imo. I mean I remember how bad he got starched by Paul Daley and even a brash guy like Daley felt bad about how bad he knocked Ward out, almost looking like he was about to cry or some shit. It's just Ward had the fight IQ of a nat at times, and was on his way to beating Gonzalez until he got choked out going for an unnecessary takedown. Oh well, it was always an experience watching his fights while it lasted.
 
His KO's over Saad Awad and Roger Carroll were nasty. He really was a "just let me bang bro" kind of guy but his fights were never boring.

I think his quick victory over Curtis Millender, who's currently killing it in the UFC now, was Brennan's peak for me. That and his RIZIN fight which i think were around the same time.
 
A little off topic, but does anyone remember Ward's second Bellator fight i think it was? first or second, one of his first Bellator fights was a quick sub loss.

But Brennan fought this guy Sam McCoy earlier on and the McCoy guy was sooooooo bad. He kept spamming takedowns from a mile away and Brennan timed an uppercut as he was charging in for a tactless TD lol.
 
Mickey Mick said:
His KO's over Saad Awad and Roger Carroll were nasty. He really was a "just let me bang bro" kind of guy but his fights were never boring.

I think his quick victory over Curtis Millender, who's currently killing it in the UFC now, was Brennan's peak for me. That and his RIZIN fight which i think were around the same time.
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Oh yeah, the Millender and Rizin fights were prime Ward IMO. After Ward beat a bigger/heavier Hasegawa in Japan while still jet lagged, I thought he was on his way to becoming champ at 170 in Bellator. Unfortunately, Bellator snubbed him of his title shot that they gave to Benson Henderson instead, and he lost to Cyborg via a brutal knee injury. It was all downhill from there. Coker screwed him over with that. If Bjorn were still in charge, he would have given Ward the title shot he had earned instead of Benson.
 
According to a thread in the heavies... he is fighting Johny Hendricks in a bare knuckle boxing bout

<{JustBleed}>
 
WallyBear said:
According to a thread in the heavies... he is fighting Johny Hendricks in a bare knuckle boxing bout

<{JustBleed}>
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I... have so many questions...

Is he really getting paid more for BKB than Bellator? This has to be some one off bullshit.
 
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