Bellator 182: “Koreshkov vs. Njokuani” comes to Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., this Friday night (Aug. 25, 2017), featuring a Spike TV-televised main event between former Welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov against Chidi “Bang Bang” Njokuani, a showdown with key ranking implications for both men.

Another 170-pound fight with divisional implications for both men is also scheduled for that night, although all four men have to know that “Red King” Rory MacDonald is ahead of them in line. Nevertheless, to break out of the pack they’ll have to impress Bellator officials and fight fans in a big way.

“Irish Bad Boy” Brennan Ward wants to do just that with Fernando Gonzalez. Even though he suffered a recent loss to Paul Daley at Bellator 170, the 14-5 fighter is a fan favorite who lives to deliver finishes. He’s done just that in 93 percent of his wins with nine knockouts and four submissions.

MMAmania.com recently spoke with Ward about his strategy to make Gonzalez engage him in his style of fight. And by Ward’s account, that won’t be a problem at all.

“You know we both like to get out and mix it up and really get busy and put on exciting fights, man. Me and him — he ain’t boring, I ain’t boring — so it ain’t gonna be a boring fight, know what I mean?”

Gonzalez does have some exciting victories on his resume with nine knockouts and seven submissions, but he also knows just how to slow down his foes. With 40 percent of his wins coming by decision (10 out of 26) Gonzalez embraces the grind. Ward can counter that with a two-inch height (5’11”) and three-inch reach (71”) advantage, something his opponent is well aware of.

“Oh, well I do? I got height and reach? I got a height advantage? I didn’t even know, man. Yeah, I guess so, cool. I’ll use it then! Thank you Fernando for pointing that out.”

What Gonzalez has going for him is momentum. He’s seven of his last eight mixed martial arts (MMA) fights and fresh off a win at Bellator 174. Ward says just winning isn’t enough though — you have to win over fans, too.

“Yeah man, he knows. He’s a smart guy. He knows you’ve got to put on exciting fights to stay relevant in the game. Whether you win or lose, you go to be in it, you know what I’m saying? Look at Brandon Girtz and Derek Campos. No one even fucking remembers who won that shit it was so good you know what I mean?”

Ironically, Ward is talking to the guy who does. His point is not lost on the audience, though. He lives by “win if you can, lose if you must, but always scrap” and Bellator keeps on bringing him back as a result.

“I’ve been around for a while, man. This’ll be my twentieth pro fight so you know, I’ve been getting it in man.”

And he’s not afraid to “get it in” with the new blood coming over from UFC to Bellator.

“The more the merrier, you know what I’m saying? There’s room for everybody. I leave that stuff to Rich (Chou), man. Rich knows who should be fighting who, he’s the matchmaker and we’re the fighters — we fight whoever we got to fight, you know what I’m saying?”

In the course of the interview Ward confirmed that he’ll be fighting Gonzalez well above 170, but the reason for it being a Catchweight might catch some people off guard.

“Yeah, it’s a Catchweight, (Gonzalez) should be fine. Yup, yup, 178. I mean, I was trying to fight at fight at 185 where I used to fight, but nobody wants it up there. That’s such a small little weight class (in Bellator) that everybody’s in title contention. I’ll go back to 185 and fuck everything up if I beat one of those guys, you know what I’m saying? So they wanna keep me right down at 170, they don’t want me at 185, because I’ll fucking ... I’ll take a belt. I would easier win that belt at 185 than 170.”

Does that mean a title fight with Rafael Carvalho is in Ward’s near future? Ward seems to think there’s somebody in line already who deserves a title shot before him.

“I’m not saying names. I’m saying I would win that. No, I would win that, I would win, I would win the (1)85 easier than the 170. Yeah there’s less guys. That’s a smaller weight class. Actually that (John) Salter kid is fucking nasty. That kid is gonna have the belt. That kid’s gonna have the belt soon for sure.”

I’m not sure at 32 we can call Salter “a kid,” but when you listen to Ward for a while you get used to his vernacular -- his “dudes” and “you know what I’m sayings” and colorful words. That’s part of his appeal. His response to sharing a card with Njokuani and Koreshkov was equally unvarnished.

“Those are two top guys. There’s a lot of guys at 170. It’s a fucking big weight class, you know? There’s a lot of tough guys. If you’re not gonna ... you know especially a guy like me dude, I’m at least a couple fights away from a title. So in the fights that aren’t directly related to a title, you gotta go out and put a show on, or else no one’s gonna remember. Not that they won’t remember, but you gotta ... you know what I’m saying? You gotta make a splash, that’s what I’m trying to say, you gotta make a splash.”

There’s your incentive to tune in to Bellator 182 this weekend — Ward is looking to cannonball his way into title contention. And if it means putting a hole through Gonzalez so be it.

Complete audio of our interview is embedded above, and complete coverage of “Koreshkov vs. Njokuani” resides here at MMAmania.com all week long.

To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.