Brennan Ward was at one time on top of the world in Bellator MMA. "Irish Bad Boy" cruised his way to winning Season 9's middleweight tournament in four straight fights that didn't go past the second round.
Unfortunately for Ward, his hot streak suddenly ran cold when he challenged Alexander Shlemenko for the 185-pound title. Things went from bad to worse when he suffered a shocking first round loss to Tamdan McCrory in his next outing.
That back-to-back losses caused Ward to rethink his strategy and weight class. And after a quick switch to Welterweight, he traded quick hands with Curtis Millender at Bellator 134, dropping his foe and sinking in a rear-naked choke.
Ward recently spoke with MMAmania.com about his next challenge at 170 pounds, dropping an unprecedented plethora of "F" bombs in the process. Due to a late change to Bellator 140, which takes place this weekend (Fri., July 17, 2015) at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., his opponent is now Roger Carroll (not Gavin Sterritt).
Not that Ward cares!
"I have the same strategy I have for every single fight -- I don't give a fuck who my opponent is. I go out there, I set the pace, I get in his face, and that's what it is. Man, I don't give a shit what he does."
Not giving a shit is pretty much Brennan Ward's trademark. He's deadly serious the moment that cage door shuts, but before and after the fight he doesn't let anything about mixed martial arts (MMA) stress him out.
"I'm different from everybody else. I started doing this shit for fun, and it got serious real quick, and I'm fuckin' like ... every fighter I've ever met, almost every fighter I've met, they're so like all like obsessed with being a fighter and they like define themselves as a fighter. 'I'm a fighter!' Nah man -- fuck you dude!"
If you didn't know "Irish Bad Boy" before, you realize by this point that it's not a (fuckin') gimmick. He makes absolutely no apologies for being incredibly casual in his attitude toward fighting.
"That's just what I do to make some money. I'm not gonna pull no punches and try to be a fuckin' professional right here. I'm doin' what I'm doin' -- I just go out there I beat people up and I get fuckin' paid. I don't give a shit. That's the only thing I care about. Fuckin' pay me, I'm out!"
Bellator MMA has to either love or hate how bombastic Ward is. I'm leaning toward "love" because much like another notorious Irish bad boy Ward grabs your attention, but he thinks he may have missed his shot at super stardom.
"I think I already missed that boat. I think if I had beat (Alexander) Shlemenko and got the belt, I would have had that, you know what I mean? But, now I just don't give a fuck. I could have had that if I beat Alex, yeah. That would have happened. That ship done sailed brah!"
You can't bring up Shlemenko without mentioning his recent three-year ban in North America, a harsh penalty from California State Athletic Commissions (CSAC) that doesn't sit well with Ward.
"I think it sucks because I really like him. Back before I had any pro fights, my freshman year of college when I was wrestling out in Kansas, on my dorm room floor drinking beers on Thursday nights watching Bellator when it was on MTV2. It was him and Patricky Pitbull were on the same card. That was the first Bellator I ever saw."
Bellator MMA has to like that Brennan Ward was a fight fan even then, though it may not be thrilled with his (unintentional) admission he was an underage drinker. As with everything else though Ward just doesn't give a ... you know.
"When you start worrying about that fuckin' shit too much... I'm in this for the fun. Once it stops being fun, I'm out. Trust me, I'm out! The only reason I do this right now is for the money. I can get another fuckin' job, trust me. Once it becomes not fun, dude I'm fuckin' gone and I'll leave it all behind."
Let's hope it doesn't stop being fun any time soon. He believes he could be a handful for any of the other welterweights on the card, although he has a healthy respect for champion Douglas Lima.
"He's the only dude in the welterweight division who I would be like nervous -- not nervous but I would be like -- alright, okay this is gonna be a real hard fight y'knowhatImean? Like, not to say you're scared of the guy, but he is intimidating, y'knowhatImean? Lima's tough dude, but I think I would dismantle Koreshkov. Actually, I know I would. I know I would fuck that kid up, but Lima, I would not fuck Lima up. That would be a hard ass fight."
If he does to his next opponent what he did to Curtis Millender, "hard ass fights" are his future in Bellator.
The complete (NSFW) audio of our interview with Ward is below and complete Bellator 140 coverage is right here at MMAmania.com.