Ed Ruth is a middleweight currently fighting for Bellator MMA.

Ruth concluded his collegiate wrestling career at Penn State in March 2014. Ruth finished 3rd as a freshman, before becoming a three time National Champion.  Along the way, Ruth amassed an impressive 84-match winning streak.

The four-time All-American signed a contract to compete in Bellator MMA in May, 2015. The former Penn State standout had talked to several promotions as he trained for the 2016 Olympics, but decided on Bellator in large part because of his rapport with president Scott Coker.

Due to his focus on competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics, Ruth declared that it would "be a little while" before his MMA debut.

In April at the Olympic trials, Ruth was defeated by Keith Gavin in the quarterfinals which brought his Olympic goals to an end.  Just one day later, the four-time All-American announced via Twitter that it was time to "pursue new disciplines."

Ruth made his professional MMA debut in November 4, 2016 on the undercard of Bellator 163 against Dustin Collins-Miles, fighting in the middleweight division. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

On December 10, 2016 Ruth won by first round TKO against Emanuele Palombi at Bellator 168.

On April 21, 2017 Ruth won by second round TKO against David Mundell at Bellator 178.

On November 3, 2017 Ruth won by second round KO against UFC veteran Chris Dempsey at Bellator 186.

Ruth was originally scheduled to make his welterweight debut and face Lazslo Furko of Hungary, but Furko pulled out due to injury. Ruth then faced Ion Pascu of Romania, who took the fight on two weeks notice at Bellator 196 held in Budapest, Hungary. This fight was agreed at a catchweight of 175 lbs. He won the fight by unanimous decision after taking Pascu down numerous times and landing heavy ground and pound.

On June 29, 2018 Ruth won by second round TKO against Andy Murad at Bellator 201 in Temecula, CA.

Ruth next entered the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. He faced Neiman Gracie in the quarterfinals at Bellator 213 on December 15, 2018. He lost the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the fourth round.

On August 15, 2019, it was announced that Ruth had signed an exclusive multi-fight, multi-year contract extension with Bellator.

As the first fight of his new contract, Ruth faced Jason Jackson at Bellator 231 on October 25, 2019. He won the back-and-forth fight by split decision.

Ruth faced Yaroslav Amosov in the main event of Bellator 239, on February 21, 2020. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Ruth faced Taylor Johnson at Bellator 245 on September 11, 2020. He lost the bout due to an inverted heel hook submission in the first round.

In July 2021, Ruth retired from MMA and took a job as assistant coach with the University of Illinois wrestling program, joining head coach Mike Poeta in his first year at the helm of the program.