It had been nearly five years since Logan Storley put away someone with his hands, so to do it again in front of a friendly crowd no doubt was exhilarating.
Storley (15-2 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) this past Friday took out gritty slugger Brennan Ward (17-7 MMA, 12-7 BMMA) with a second-round TKO in the Bellator 298 main event. The fight took place in Sioux Falls, S.D., a little more than two hours from the town where Storley grew up and won six state wrestling titles.
Storley said fighting in front of his home fans was clutch, of course – he’s now 6-0 in the Sanford Pentagon, including 3-0 when Bellator sets up camp there. But most important, Storley is looking at the welterweight division and doesn’t see many options other than the champion, Yaroslav Amosov – who happens to be responsible for the only two losses, both decisions, of Storley’s career.
He lost a split call to him in November 2020, but three fights later, with Amosov out, Storley won the interim welterweight title with a win over Michael Page. Earlier this year, though, he lost a title unification fight to him and had to start back up the ladder.
“This is my second fight in the last five months,” Storley said after his win over Ward. “I was staying active, and there’s a big thing in this sport of getting back in that locker room, going through the pressure and doing that walk. I felt good in there tonight. I felt at home.
“We’ll see what happens (next). ‘MVP’ is a free agent. Jason Jackson is a teammate of mine. Me and Amosov – my only losses are to him, one guy who I think right now might be pound-for-pound best in any division, in any promotion. That’s one I want to get back, and that was a good start tonight.”
Storley’s TKO came nearly five years after he put away A.J. Matthews in August 2018 in the same building. (A 2019 TKO win over E.J. Brooks was due to an arm injury and stopped between rounds.)
Check out Storley’s full post-fight interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 298.
