Brennan Ward and Fernando Gonzalez fight Friday in Bellator 182 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino.

Brennan Ward enters this fight with a 14-5 record and has won 64 percent of his fights by knockout. Ward has won five of his last seven fights is coming off a January loss to Paul Daley. Ward is coming off a nasty knockout loss and hopes to avoid back-to-back losses for the second time in his career. Ward is a balanced fighter who has a deep wrestling background and four submission victories, but he’s also a polished striker with knockout power and has a viscous ground and pound attack. Ward is very tough to stop if he can execute his takedowns, as he has the power strikes and the wrestling attack to finish a fight however he likes. Of course, the other side of the coin is that Ward has been submitted three times in his own right and has been finished five times overall. This will be Ward’s first fight in New York.

Fernando Gonzalez enters this fight with a 26-14 record and has won 38 percent of his fights by decision. Gonzalez has won six of his last seven fights is coming off a March win over Brandon Girtz. Gonzalez is enjoying some of his most consistent success, as his only recent loss was a tight contest against Michael Page. Gonzalez has a little bit of everything to his game, as he has a boxing and kickboxing background while also showing he’s a capable wrestler and grappler who has seven career submission victories. Gonzalez is a smart fighter who doesn’t often play into his opponents hand, and he’s at his best standing up where he can rely on his strikes and clinching. Gonzalez has been submitted five times and five of his last seven fights have ended in decision. This will be Gonzalez’s first fight in New York. This is a dangerous fight for Gonzalez not only because Ward is a polished wrestler and will have a considerable advantage on the canvas, but because he’s altos inches bigger with a seven inch reach advantage. We saw Gonzalez struggle with the length of Page in his most recent loss, and that was without him looking for a takedown. This is a fight Ward should be able to control from the beginning and either force a stoppage or wear down Gonzalez over time and get the decision victory. I like Ward to win this fight.

Randy’s Pick Brennan Ward

The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a Sports Chat Place site consensus.