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.
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 December 9, 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 November 19, 2016 at. Ward suffered a quick defeat where he was finished via knockout in the fight's opening minute. Ward faced Galore Bofando at on July 16, 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 November 10, 2017 at Bellator 187 in Dublin against John Redmond. Conor McGregor, Ward's teammate, tackled Ward and pulling guard, before the fight was officially declared over. 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. 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" 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. 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. At post fight interview, Ward explained the confusion with the fight stop: For his second fight with the promotion, Ward faced Martin Hudson at Bellator 200 held in the Wembley Arena on May 25, 2018. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Ward faced Justin Moore at Bellator 223 on June 22, 2019. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round. On August 15, 2019, it was announced that Ward had signed an exclusive multi-fight, multi-year contract extension with Bellator. Ward was expected to face Pietro Penini at Bellator Dublin on September 27, 2019, but the bout was scrapped due to Ward's injury. Subsequently, the bout was rescheduled to Bellator London 2 on November 23, 2019. Ward lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Death of João Carvalho
Ward's victory over João Carvalho by knockout at Total Extreme Fighting 1 on April 9, 2016 was overcast with a tragic circumstance. Carvalho felt unwell, suffering from a headache 20 minutes after the fight and was sent to 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. His death sparked outpouring grief from the MMA community. The death of Carvalho aroused considerable debate, focusing on the sentiment that the fight should have been stopped much earlier. 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." 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.
