Kill Cliff FC’s Storley main events Bellator MMA 298. Teammate Mowry, ATT’s Rosta on main card

Logan Storley of Kill Cliff FC (formerly Sanford MMA) in (South Florida) Deerfield Beach is in the main event of Bellator MMA 298 on Friday, Aug. 11 on Showtime from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, not far from where Storley grew up.

“Tall” Steve Mowry, who also trains at Kill Cliff FC, is on the main card, along with Dalton Rosta, who trains at American Top Team in nearby (South Florida) Coconut Creek.

The top-ranked Storley (14-2) battles 8th-ranked Brennan Ward (17-6) of New London, Connecticut in a key welterweight bout from the Sanford Pentagon.

Storley believes his improvements after a fight with unbeaten champion Yaroslav Amosov will allow him to fend off the powerful punching of Ward. Storley’s only two defeats are to Amosov.

Here is my video interview with Storley.

A four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler and six-time South Dakota state champion high school wrestler, Storley graduated from the University of Minnesota and is friends with Brock Lesnar, another University of Minnesota star wrestler who (like Storley) graduated from Webster High School in Webster, South Dakota.

Lesnar became a champion in MMA in UFC and in pro wrestling/sports entertainment in WWE. Shelton Benjamin and Gable Steveson are two more University of Minnesota wrestling alums who compete in WWE. Storley is interested in a tryout with WWE, but his focus these days is MMA and the Bellator welterweight title, which he once held.

Storley, 30, joined Kill Cliff FC when it was Combat Club in Palm Beach County and then Hard Knocks 365 in Fort Lauderdale, before it became Sanford MMA and now Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach. Henri Hooft and Greg Jones lead Kill Cliff FC.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/storleystorm

Mowry (10-0-1, 1 NC) is in a rematch with former Interim heavyweight champ Valentin Moldavsky (11-3) of Russia. The 6-foot-8 heavyweight finisher looks to punch his ticket to his first world championship title fight.

Here is my video interview with Mowry.

Mowry, 31, ranked third, will also try to remove the sour taste from his mouth after a No Contest against the 2nd-ranked Moldavsky in Sioux Falls last year and then fighting to a draw against ex-Olympian Ali Isaev in his last outing.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tallstevemma

Also on the main card is Rosta, a confident undefeated middleweight fighter who is 8-0. Ranked fourth, Rosta contests Canada’s Aaron Jeffery (13-4, ranked sixth).

Rosta, 27, aptly-nicknamed “Hercules,” is brimming with confidence leading into this match-up, and he knows that a dominant performance could not only rocket him into superstardom, but title contention as well. That champion is his American Top Team teammate Johnny Eblen, who helped train him for this fight.

Here is my video interview with Rosta.

Rosta is into pro wrestling, too. He appeared with ATT founder Dan Lambert on a couple of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) shows along with some of his ATT cohorts. He spoke with AEW’s Jake Hager (aka WWE alum Jack Swagger), an accomplished amateur wrestler (like Rosta) and pro wrestler who fought MMA for Bellator. Rosta has Pittsburgh ties with AEW star Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D., who he also met.

Furthermore, Rosta’s girlfriend, Gina DeLucia, is training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and debuted in May at a WWE NXT house show (no TV) in Orlando. Rosta was there.

Delucia, a stellar athlete with a background in volleyball and cheerleading, is from the competitive CrossFit world. Where Rosta has much interest in pro wrestling/sports entertainment, she has no interest in fighting MMA.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaltonRosta

Bellator MMA 298

BELLATOR MMA 298: STORLEY VS. WARD

MAIN CARD:

SHOWTIME

Friday, August 11 — 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT

Welterweight Main Event: #1-Logan Storley (14-2) vs. #8-Brennan Ward (17-6)

Heavyweight Feature Bout: #2-Valentin Moldavsky (11-3, 1 NC) vs. #3-Steve Mowry (10-0-1, 1 NC)

Middleweight Feature Bout: #4-Dalton Rosta (8-0) vs. #6-Aaron Jeffery (13-4)

Featherweight Bout: James Gallagher (11-2) vs. James Gonzalez (10-6)

Lightweight Feature Bout: #6-Sidney Outlaw (16-5) vs. #7-Islam Mamedov (22-2-1)

PRELIMINARY CARD:

BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel | Pluto TV

6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT

Featherweight Bout: #10-Lucas Brennan (7-0) vs. Weber Almeida (7-1)

Bantamweight Bout: #9-Enrique Barzola (19-7-2) vs. #10-Jaylon Bates (7-0)

Featherweight Bout: Kai Kamaka (11-5-1) vs. Akhmed Magomedov (10-1-1)

Flyweight Bout: #8-Diana Avsaragova (6-0) vs. #10-Justine Kish (8-6)

Lightweight Bout: Vladimir Tokov (8-2) vs. Jario Pacheco (7-1)

Featherweight Bout: #7-Dayana Silva (10-8) vs. Katerina Shakalova (7-1)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Sullivan Cauley (5-1) vs. Hamza Salim (7-6)

Bantamweight Bout: Bryce Meredith (4-0) vs. Alberto Rodriguez (4-3)

Lightweight Bout: Alfie Davis (15-4-1) vs. Aalon Cruz (11-4)

Bantamweight Bout: #7-Leandro Higo (21-6) vs. Nikita Mikhailov (10-2)

Bantamweight Bout: Josh Hill (22-5) vs. Kasum Kasumov (14-1)

Bantamweight Bout: Marcirley Alves da Silva (11-3) vs. Jerrell Hodge (10-3)

Featherweight Bout: Jordan Oliver (Pro Debut) vs. Andrew Triolo (0-1)

Bantamweight Bout: Michael Blockhus (Pro Debut) vs. Eli Mefford (0-4)

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