Charlie Ward (fighter)

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.

Charlie Ward
Born (1980-12-17) 17 December 1980
Mountmellick, Ireland
Other namesRelentless
NationalityIrish
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight84.5 kg (186 lb; 13 st 4 lb)
DivisionMiddleweight
Welterweight
Reach73.5 in (187 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofDublin, Ireland
TeamStraight Blast Gym - Ireland[1]
TrainerJohn Kavanagh
Years active2014–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total13
Wins9
By knockout6
By decision3
Losses4
By knockout3
By decision1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

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.[2]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ward was signed by the UFC in 2016.[3] with the record of 3–1.[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.[4] In turn, he was quickly rescheduled to face Abdul Razak Alhassan on 19 November 2016 at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2.[5] Ward suffered a quick defeat where he was finished via knockout in the fight's opening minute.[6][7][8]

Ward faced Galore Bofando at UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio on 16 July 2017.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] Conor McGregor, Ward's teammate, tackled Ward and pulling guard, before the fight was officially declared over.[12] McGregor was separated by referee Marc Goddard, as Goddard needed to verify the knock-out was indeed before the end-of-round of bell, and to ensure lock down of the cage for medical staff to assess the health of the knocked out Redmond. McGregor 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.[13][14][15]

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 I gave him a clatter in the face"[16][17][18] Redmond stated after the fight that Goddard had intended to continue to fight to round two but Mohegan Sun commission who oversaw the event decided to end the fight and declared the win to Ward due to McGregor's behaviour in the ring.[19]

This is the second encounter between McGregor and Goddard where Goddard ordered McGregor to return to his seat at UFC Fight Night 118 at Gdańsk, Poland in Artem Lobov vs. Andre Fili fight when Conor attempted to serve as the cornerman.[20][21] At post fight interview, Ward explained the confusion with the fight stop:

I hit him with my left hook and then hit him another two or three on the ground and the ref jumped in and stopped it. And has seen because I hit him when he was on the ground and he was well out and the ref started saying that it wasn't over but they went back in and check the time and it's over. So I mean I can't give a bollocks it was it was the first round or the second round. I don't mind. If he had to come back out he would have got the very same. I know it might have been the same outcome for him that he's going home tonight and he's waking up tomorrow. So whatever.[22]

For his second fight with the promotion, Ward faced Martin Hudson at Bellator 200 held in the Wembley Arena on 25 May 2018.[23] He won the fight via TKO in the first round.[24]

Ward faced Justin Moore at Bellator 223 on 22 June 2019.[25] He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.[26]

On 15 August 2019, it was announced that Ward had signed an exclusive multi-fight, multi-year contract extension with Bellator.[27] Ward was expected to face Pietro Penini at Bellator Dublin on 27 September 2019, but the bout was scrapped due to Ward's injury. Subsequently, the bout was rescheduled to Bellator London 2 on 23 November 2019.[28] Ward lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Next, Ward faced Kyle Kurtz at Bellator 240 on 22 February 2020. Ward rebounded from the loss via third-round knockout.[29]

Ward faced Andy Manzolo at Bellator Milan 3 on 3 October 2020. He won the fight via unanimous decision.[30]

Death of João Carvalho

Ward's victory over João Carvalho by knockout at Total Extreme Fighting 1 on 9 April 2016 was overcast with a tragic circumstance. Carvalho felt unwell, suffering from a headache 20 minutes[31] after the fight and was sent to a hospital for a brain surgery. He died at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin 48 hours later as a result of injuries he suffered in the defeat.[32][33] His death sparked outpouring grief from the MMA community.[34][31]

The death of Carvalho aroused considerable debate, focusing on the sentiment that the fight should have been stopped much earlier.[35][36] The referee who was in charge of the fight, Mariusz Domasat, defended his decision and said "If you watch the fight you see clearly there was no reason to stop the fight earlier. I stopped the fight when there was a reason to stop the fight, when the fighter wasn't willing to fight anymore, that's it. Everyone who has any idea about MMA knows the fight was stopped at the exact proper time. I am an experienced referee and part of the Irish Amateur Pankration Association of Safe MMA and I know what I am doing."[37][38] Subsequently, Minister for Travel, Tourism and Sport Michael Ring, reiterated his long concern of the safety aspect of the sport which he had written to 17 MMA promoters in Ireland where he expected MMA should adhere to the safety standards as applied in other sports.[39]

Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
13 matches 9 wins 4 losses
By knockout 6 3
By decision 3 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 9–4 Andy Manzolo Decision (unanimous) Bellator Milan 3 3 October 2020 3 5:00 Milan, Italy
Win 8–4 Kyle Kurtz TKO (punches) Bellator 240 22 February 2020 3 4:24 Dublin, Ireland
Loss 7–4 Pietro Penini Jr. Decision (unanimous) Bellator London 2 23 November 2019 3 5:00 London, England
Win 7–3 Justin Moore TKO (punches) Bellator 223 22 June 2019 2 3:23 London, England
Win 6–3 Jamie Stephenson KO (punch) Bellator 217 23 February 2019 1 0:34 Dublin, Ireland
Win 5–3 Martin Hudson TKO (punches) Bellator 200 25 May 2018 1 2:23 London, England
Win 4–3 John Redmond KO (punch) Bellator 187 10 November 2017 1 4:59 Dublin, Ireland Return to Middleweight.
Loss 3–3 Galore Bofando KO (slam and punches) UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio 16 July 2017 1 2:10 Glasgow, Scotland
Loss 3–2 Abdul Razak Alhassan KO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 19 November 2016 1 0:53 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win 3–1 Gareth Williams Decision (majority) Adrenalin Fight Nights: Adrenalin Blast 4 June 2016 3 5:00 Swansea, Wales Middleweight bout.
Win 2–1 João Carvalho TKO (punches) Total Extreme Fighting 1 9 April 2016 3 N/A Dublin, Ireland
Win 1–1 Ciaran Daly Decision (unanimous) Cage Kings 2 9 August 2015 3 5:00 Dublin, Ireland Welterweight debut.
Loss 0–1 John Phillips KO (punch) Fightstar Promotions: Rage in the Cage 3 21 March 2015 2 0:00 Paisley, Scotland Rage in the Cage Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinal.

[40]

See also

References
  1. "Charlie Ward". Tapology. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  2. Sherdog.com. "Charlie Ward MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com". Sherdog. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  3. "SBG Welterweight Charlie Ward To Battle Galore Bofando At UFC Glasgow - Pundit Arena". www.punditarena.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  4. Mark La Monica (7 November 2016). "Randy Brown gets new opponent for UFC Fight Night in Albany". newsday.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  5. "Charlie Ward vs Abdul Razak Alhassan confirmed for UFC Belfast". SevereMMA.com - UFC, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Irish MMA. 12 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  6. "Watch: SBG's Charlie Ward KO'ed In Wild Slugfest On UFC Debut In Belfast - Pundit Arena". www.punditarena.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  7. "Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Charlie Ward Fight Video - UFC Fight Night 99: Belfast Prelim". www.allfreefightvideos.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  8. "UFC Fight Night 99 results: Abdul Razak Alhassan drops Charlie Ward in 53-second slugfest". MMAjunkie. 19 November 2016. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  9. "Charlie Ward to face Galore Bofando at UFC Scotland". SevereMMA.com - UFC, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Irish MMA. 3 May 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  10. Metro.co.uk, Coral Barry for (16 July 2017). "Video: Bizarre KO from a hip toss puts Charlie Ward to sleep at UFC Glasgow". Metro. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  11. "Charlie Ward vs. John Redmond confirmed for Bellator 187". MMA Fighting. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  12. https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2017/11/trading-shots-conor-mcgregor-jumps-in-cage-and-crosses-line-so-now-what
  13. "Conor McGregor jumps cage at Bellator 187, confronts referee Marc Goddard". MMAjunkie. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  14. "McGregor leaps into Bellator ring, causes stir". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
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  16. BuzzyNews UK (10 November 2017), Conor McGregor slaps commissioner after confrontation with referee, archived from the original on 13 November 2017, retrieved 11 November 2017
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  21. Davies, Gareth A. (11 November 2017). "Conor McGregor faces fine or ban for altercation with referee at Bellator MMA 187 event". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  22. SevereMMA (10 November 2017), Post-Fight Scrum with Charlie Ward at Bellator 187, archived from the original on 13 November 2017, retrieved 10 November 2017
  23. "Bellator London". Bellator.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  24. "Bellator 200 Results: Carvalho vs. Mousasi". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  25. "Charlie Ward vs. Justin Moore among additions and changes to Bellator London lineup". mmajunkie.com. 30 May 2019.
  26. Nolan King (7 August 2019). "Charlie Ward vs. Pietro Penini targeted for Bellator 227". mmajunkie.com.
  27. Nolan King (15 August 2019). "Phil Davis, Ed Ruth among five fighters to sign Bellator contract extensions". mmajunkie.com.
  28. Alexander K. Lee (29 October 2019). "Charlie Ward vs. Pietro Penini moved to Bellator London show". mmafighting.com.
  29. Bryan Tucker (22 February 2020). "Bellator 240/Bellator Dublin results". mmafighting.com.
  30. "Bellator Milan 'Gallagher vs Ellenor' recap with results, .gifs and interviews". mmamania.com. 3 October 2020.
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  34. "MMA death: Joao Carvalho TKO vs Charlie Ward, Conor McGregor UFC megastar tribute, Marc Goddard plea". Fox Sports. 13 April 2016. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  35. Clerkin, Malachy. "João Carvalho: The life and death of a cage fighter". Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  36. "Don't blame my son for MMA death". Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  37. "'I stopped the fight at the proper time' - Referee from tragic Joao Carvalho MMA bout - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  38. Jones, Matt. "Referee Mariusz Domasat Comments on Joao Carvalho vs. Charlie Ward Fight". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  39. Lane, Daniel (14 April 2016). "Joao Carvalho death: Charlie Ward pulled his punches in MMA cage fight in Dublin". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  40. Sherdog.com. "Charlie Ward MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com". Sherdog. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
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