Cathal Pendred believes Tom Breese is in for a rude awakening on Saturday night.
Undefeated welterweight Breese is on the hunt for his second win in the UFC when he throws down against Pendred at UFC Dublin. The British fighter reckons that the Punisher doesn’t pose any threat to him in terms of technical ability, and even cited Pendred’s delusion as a strength.
“The reason I think Pendred’s so good is because he’s delusional. I think his belief is incredible. Technically, I don’t think he’s in my league, to be honest.”
“I think I’m better everywhere, so if he goes to the ground I’ll beat him there. On the feet, I train with some of the best boxers in the world. I still really haven’t got a chance to show that’s why I took this fight, to show a little bit of my boxing.”
Pendred fired back at Breese over these comments at the UFC Dublin media day in the 3Arena. The Dubliner thinks Breese is unaware of his full skill-set, which he says is on the same level as some of the best in the game.
“Maybe he has delusional thoughts about what my game is. I know the extent of my skills, and I train with some of the best guys in the world. I train with jiu-jitsu black belts all the time and I’m matching them. MMA-wise I’m training with Conor, Gunni and all these guys, and skill-wise I’m on the same level as them.”
The former Cage Warriors champion admitted he was delighted that his opponent feels he’s delusional. Pendred claimed that Breese’s overconfidence will work against him when they enter the Octagon on Saturday.
“I’m happy he believes that I’m delusional. He wanted this fight; my last few performances have been poor and I think he thinks that that is my standard. He’s in for a rude awakening on Saturday night and as soon as that bell goes that confidence he has in himself will shrink – he’s in for a bad night.”
“I still think I can bully him physically. He’s big in the sense that he’s long, but he’s very, very skinny. If you look at his legs, my little sister has bigger legs than him; he reminds me of a stick insect almost.”
“I want to bully him because I want to shrink his confidence. I can do that and I believe I will do that.”
Breese admitted he is wary of the impassioned Dublin crowd working against him. If the fight goes the distance, he thinks the crowd might be able to sway the judges into favouring Pendred, even if he isn’t winning the fight.
“I could land a clean shot and there’d be no noise from the fans. He could miss or glance and there could be a lot of noise, but I could see myself being very dominant in this. It shouldn’t even be close.”
He closed with some kind words about Pendred’s ability, before reiterating his intention to get the win on Saturday.
“I respect Cathal as a fighter. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s got a great record and it’s going to be a good win for me on Saturday.”
