I Went From MMA Fighter to Prison… Then Fought My Way Back | Brennan Ward

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Brennan Ward joins Locked In with Ian Bick to share his journey from being a professional MMA fighter to hitting rock bottom with addiction and ending up in prison. Known for his career in Bellator, Brennan talks about how everything started to spiral, the choices that led him down a dark path, and what life was really like once he lost it all. In this episode, he opens up about battling addiction, surviving time behind bars, and the mental fight it took to rebuild his life from nothing. Brennan also shares how he made his comeback, stepping back into the cage with a new mindset, and what it truly takes to stay on the right path after experiencing the lowest points. _____________________________________________ #BrennanWard #MMA #MMAFighter #PrisonStory #AddictionRecovery #FightBack #CombatSports #lockedinpodcast _____________________________________________ Connect with Brennan Ward: https://www.instagram.com/bwpugda170killah/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 From Fighter to Addiction (Full Story) 00:33 Early Life & Upbringing 02:06 Growing Up: Sports & Wrestling 03:41 First Trouble & Drug Use Begins 05:03 College Wrestling & First Arrests 06:14 Leaving School: Trades & MMA Path 07:08 Starting an MMA Career 10:14 Fighting, Partying & Reckless Lifestyle 13:31 Addiction Impacts Fighting Career 17:03 Drug Use Takes Over Everything 20:42 Losing MMA & Bare Knuckle Opportunities 23:23 Comeback Attempt in Fighting 25:11 Arrests, Jail & Motorcycle Club Life 28:59 Rock Bottom: Drugs, Prison & Regret 32:02 Getting Out of Jail & Recovery Begins 35:47 Relapse, Sobriety Struggles & Comeback 42:27 Missed Opportunities & Hard Truths 01:00:04 Family, Regret & Motivation Today 01:03:42 Biggest Life Lessons Learned 01:04:42 Sobriety, Support System & Staying Clean 01:07:32 Final Thoughts & Moving Forward _____________________________________________ To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I show up to some fights.
0:01.0	No training can.
0:02.1	None.
0:02.5	And like, dopesick.
0:03.7	I can end up winning.
0:05.1	You know, you make someone's year's salary in a night.
0:22.9	How much money do you think you lost? Probably close to a million. Hey, we saw this is Brennan Ward. Listen to my story about some addiction, been to jail, pro-fighting man, and everything in between. Brennan Ward talks about his MMA career, fighting while dope sick, how addiction took over his life, what led him to prison and how he made it back through bare knuckle fighting.
0:31.6	I grew up in a town called Waterford, Connecticut.
0:34.6	It's like right next to New London, you know, southeastern Connecticut down on the shoreline.
0:38.9	What was your upbringing like?
0:41.1	Dude,
0:41.4	super, super normally middle class family,
0:44.9	dad, union construction worker,
0:46.3	mom, school teacher,
0:47.9	two sisters, one younger, one older.
0:51.2	You know,
0:52.3	strict household,
0:54.8	you know what I mean? Me and my sisters, you know, sports, very sports oriented, uh, uh, strict household, you know what I mean?
1:00.3	Me and my sisters, you know, sports, very sports oriented, very, uh, when I say strict,
1:03.0	I mean, you know, um, we, you know, obeyed our parents.
1:07.8	They taught us good morals, good values, just like a real normal, like middle class, like blue collar, blue collar life coming up how would your parents have
1:12.1	described you as a kid i mean i my mom says i was good i was good she said i was good for most
	...

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