With Irish mixed martial arts getting a lot of extra attention recently, one of its newest stars is ready to make the leap – step forward Cathal Pendred
By Adrian Collins
After the success of Conor McGregor in his first UFC event in Sweden, the mixed martial arts scene is getting quite a bit of attention in Ireland, and one man who is increasingly becoming the focus of that attention is Cathal Pendred, who y9u can follow on Twitter here.
In March, Cathal Pendred claimed the Cage Warriors welterweight title from Gael Grimaud in London, confirming his status as one of the brightest talents around Europe at the moment. You can see his impressive win below…
He’ll also feature at Cage Warriors 55, which you’ll be able to watch right here on JOE.ie on June 1st, live from the Helix. If you want to get tickets to see him live in action, you’ll have to be quick, as they are selling out fast.
Pendred fights out of Straight Blast Gym, along with McGregor and one of the other big talents in the UFC Gunnar Nelson – all of whom are training with the well respected coach, John Kavanagh.
McGregor might have grabbed all the headlines with his knock out, but Pendred’s next fight against former UFC fighter Che Mills could be his own ticket to the top level, if he can get the win.
The odds will certainly be in his favour, as there’s no doubt the crowd will be cheering like mad for the Dublin man.
Pendred hasn’t had the most conventional of routes to the octagon. Born in Boston, he moved to Ireland at a young age, played schools rugby for Belvedere and studied Analytical Science at DCU, before deciding on a career change and making professional fighting his calling.
Clearly he has a passion for sports that require huge physical effort, however as he said himself on the Late Late Show, he got more injuries playing rugby there than he has fighting mixed martial arts.
What you’ll notice about Pendred, even in the few minutes on the Late Late, is that he has a quiet, understated confidence in his abilities.
When speaking to the College Review for his alma mater at DCU recently, he said that while his opponent, Mills, wasn’t a success at UFC level, he knows he can cut it: “I’ve trained with guys that are top five in the world and I can compete at that level, it’s just a matter of proving that against Che Mills, and everyone else will know that.”
There’s no doubting that he’s on the verge of something huge, and his record suggests that alone, with an impressive 12 wins and only 2 losses to his name.
His aggressive style of fighting puts his opponents on the back foot, and forcing them up against the cage, a style that allows him to dominate the match ups and win by decision or knock out, which has seen him claim one of the most prestigious belts in the sport from Cage Warriors, and may well see him take another incredible step in his career very soon.
He’s certainly not the only one who’s confident that he’ll be flying the Irish flag in the UFC before long, and everyone in the JOE offices will be cheering him on at Cage Warriors 55 next month.
