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Johny Hendricks set to return in bare knuckle fight against Brennan Ward

Former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks may be retired from MMA, but that doesn’t mean he’s done with the fight game entirely.

Hendricks and longtime Bellator contender Brennan Ward have agreed to make their bare-knuckle boxing debut in a middleweight matchup at the inaugural show of the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF), which takes place Nov. 9 at the Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming. MMA Fighting confirmed the booking Monday following an initial report by FightbookMMA.

Hendricks, 35, retired from mixed martial arts this past June. “Bigg Rigg” spent 10 years competing in the UFC and memorably started his Octagon career with 10-1 run to the welterweight title which included victories over Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Martin Kampmann, and TJ Grant.