The fight card for Bellator 298 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, now has eight confirmed bouts, including a pivotal main event clash for the welterweight division, plus the return of Irish star James Gallagher.
Bellator 298 takes place Friday, August 11 at the Sanford Pentagon, where former interim welterweight champion Logan Storley will return to action in the main event.
Number-one welterweight contender Storley will take on the division’s number eight, Brennan Ward, in a fascinating clash of styles in the featured bout of the evening.
Storley lost out to returning champion Yaroslav Amosov in their title unification battle at Bellator 291, and will be keen to return to winning ways against Ward, who returned to the sport last year and has looked in outstanding form.
Ward finished Brandon Bell via second-round TKO at Bellator 274 in February 2022 as he ended a near-five-year absence from the sport in spectacular fashion.
He then followed up with two more second-round TKO finishes as he defeated Kassius Kayne, then Sabah Homasi, to announce himself as a serious contender in the Bellator 170-pound division.
Now Ward will face former interim champ Storley in a bout that could propel him towards a title shot. Storley will have other plans, however, and he’ll want to assert his dominance over Ward to help separate himself from the welterweight pack and keep him firmly in the championship picture.
Also confirmed for August 11 is a heavyweight bout between the division’s second- and third-ranked contenders, as Russia’s former interim champ Valentin Moldavsky takes on undefeated Steve Mowry.
There’s also a battle between top 10 middleweights, as fourth-ranked Dalton Rosta takes on number six Aaron Jeffery, while the lightweight division sees number six face off against number seven, as Sidney Outlaw faces off against Islam Mamedov.
Elsewhere on the card, the prelims will see the return to action of Irish star James Gallagher, who takes on Cris Lencioni.
Gallagher has a well-earned reputation as one of the most dangerous grapplers in Bellator, with six of his eight victories inside the Bellator cage coming via submission. But his last outing saw him fall to defeat against Patchy Mix, who has since gone all the way to the top of the bantamweight division.
Now Gallagher is moving up to featherweight to face 11-3 contender Lencioni, who is on a four-fight win streak, and has six submissions to his name.
Bellator 298: Confirmed fights
MAIN CARD
- Logan Storley vs. Brennan Ward
- Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
- Dalton Rosta vs. Aaron Jeffery
- Sidney Outlaw vs. Islam Mamedov
PRELIMINARY CARD
- James Gallagher vs. Cris Lencioni
- Lucas Brennan vs. Weber Almeida
- Michal Blockhus vs. Eli Mefford
- Alfie Davis vs. Aalon Cruz