Bellator 290 results, highlights: Brennan Ward outlasts Sabah Homasi for second-round TKO in bloody battle

Brennan Ward and Sabah Homasi spent most of the fighting week promising that their main card laptop on Saturday’s Bellator 290 card would be a slugfest.

Luckily for the fans, a pair of welterweight batters lived up to those high expectations at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. But it was Ward, in his third fight after the end of a five-year hiatus caused by legal troubles and drug abuse, that proved that his miraculous comeback was only just beginning.

Ward (17-6) bounced back from falling and bleeding in the first round and relied on his gas tank to beat Homasi (17-11) en route to a TKO in the second round.

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“Sabah is fucking strong. He knocked me down in the first round, you saw it,” Ward said. “But I need a title shot, Mr. White. [Scott] Cocker [Bellator MMA CEO]. I’m ready to go.”

Ward, who unsuccessfully challenged for the Bellator middleweight title in 2014, extended his 170-pound winning streak to three straight fights, all by knockout, after returning to the sport in 2022. the two fighters co-wrote an exciting first round, fighting at a frantic pace in which both were bruised and beaten.

Both fighters landed heavy punches and cleanly jumped knees, opening multiple cuts – under Ward’s left eye and right temple, as well as a gash on Homasi’s nose – but it was Ward who also established himself as a threat. on the ground. Knocking Homasi off the first bell, Ward took his opponent twice in the back and threatened with choke holds.

But after Homasi beat Homasi with punches to close out the first round, Ward continued to build his momentum another round later as fatigue began to overtake Homasi.

Ward, 34, parried Homasi’s right hand, knocking him down with a hard jab. Ward kept hitting him on the ground until Homasi broke free. But Homasi was still hurt from the blows and partly turned away from the fight just as Ward landed a high kick to the head to drop him again.

A short series of ground strikes was enough to finish Homasi at 1:34 of the round when referee Blake Grice jumped up to wave the fight off.

“I shot a lot faster than I thought,” Ward said. “I can wrestle and I was an All-American, but the fans don’t like it when I wrestle a lot. They love it when I fuck. to wear him down.”

Homasi, a 34-year-old former UFC and Strikeforce veteran with American Top Team in south Florida, saw his two-fight winning streak come to an end. He has fallen to 2-3 in his last five fights.