Charlie Ward (born 17 December 1980) is an Irish mixed martial artist currently competing in the middleweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2014, he formerly competed for the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Early career Ward held an amateur record of 2–0 before beginning his professional MMA career in 2015, competing for regional promotions in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He lost his debut where he was stopped in round two by John Phillips. He rebounded with three straight victories, winning over Ciaran Daly, João Carvalho and Gareth Williams. Ultimate Fighting Championship Ward was signed by the UFC in 2016. with the record of 3–1. Ward was expected to make his promotional debut against Randy Brown on 9 December 2016 at UFC Fight Night 102. However, Ward was pulled from that fight in early November due to alleged visa issues which restricted his travel to the United States and was replaced by fellow newcomer Brian Camozzi. In turn, he was quickly rescheduled to face Abdul Razak Alhassan on 19 November 2016 at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2. Ward suffered a quick defeat where he was finished via knockout in the fight's opening minute. Ward faced Galore Bofando at UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio on 16 July 2017. He lost the fight via knockout after Bofando slammed him to the mat with a hip toss early in the first round. He was subsequently released from the promotion. Bellator MMA Ward made the move to join Bellator MMA and made his debut on 10 November 2017 at Bellator 187 in Dublin against John Redmond. Ward knocked out Redmond at the end of round one, however referee Marc Goddard needed to verify that the knock out was before the buzzer. Conor McGregor, Ward's teammate, jumped the cage to celebrate with Ward before the fight was officially declared over. McGregor was separated Goddard, who in turn charged towards Goddard and pushed and confronted Goddard in a wild melee which caused an official to bump into Redmond as he was getting up. McGregor did a lap of the cage and exited a few minutes later but then scaled and straddled the cage apron to continue the celebration of Ward's winning. He was stopped by a commissioner and McGregor was agitated and slapped the commissioner's face as McGregor admitted saying "Did you see your man trying to grab me and