Bellator 170 results: Paul Daley knocks out Brennan Ward with flying knee, calls out Rory MacDonald

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Paul Daley promised to end his fight with Brennan Ward in spectacular fashion. That’s exactly what happened when he scored a highlight-reel flying knee knockout.

Daley (39-14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) connected with the fight-ending blow on Ward (14-5 MMA, 9-5 BMMA) at the 2:27 mark of Round 1, helping him rebound from his first loss in Bellator this past year.

The welterweight bout served as the co-main event of the Spike-televised main card at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Prelims streamed on MMAjunkie.

Although the two fighters vowed to stand and trade for the entirety of the bout, it was Ward who went back on his word first when he shot on Daley after the opening striking exchange of the contest.

Daley escaped from Ward’s forward pressure and grappling attempts, and that’s when the setup for the finish began. Daley stumbled Ward with his trademark left hook and caused him to back up away from the power strikes.

“Semtex” kept the pressure on, though, landing a combination which ended with a spinning back elbow that thumped Ward to the side of the head. It was at that point Daley charged and elevated with a switch flying knee. Ward ducked down into the shot but was sent backward when the knee connected, knocking him out cold for just the second time in his MMA career.

Daley lost a No. 1 contender fight to current Bellator welterweight champ Douglas Lima in July. He got right back near the front of the line of contenders, though, sending Ward out of the cage on a stretcher with the brutal knockout.

“I genuinely like the guy – I hope Brennan Ward is OK after this fight,” Daley said in his post-fight interview with Jimmy Smith. “I’m looking at everybody. Marquee names and champions. Rory MacDonald comes over here and thinks he can do his thing, it’s not going to happen. If he comes in this cage with me I’m going to knocked the (expletive) out.”

MacDonald quickly took to social media and seemed unimpressed with the claim.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 170 results include:

• Paul Daley def. Brennan Ward via knockout (flying knee) – Round 1, 2:27
• Hisaki Kato def. Ralek Gracie via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Emmanuel Sanchez def. Georgi Karakhanyan via majority decision (28-28, 28-27, 28-27)
• Derek Campos def. Derek Anderson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Henry Corrales def. Cody Bollinger via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 4:28
• Guilherme Vasconcelos def. John Mercurio via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:41
• Keith Berry vs. Kevin Casey declared majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
• Alex Soto def. Demarcus Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Chinzo Machida def. Jamar Ocampo via TKO (punch) – Round 3, 3:48
• Jalin Turner def. Gabriel Green via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:36
• Jack May def. Dave Cryer via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:41
• Daniel Rodriguez def. Christian Gonzalez via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:55

For complete coverage of Bellator 170, check out the MMA Events section of the site.