Cathal Pendred made his professional mixed arts debut 6 years ago today.
“The Punisher” needed less than a minute to finish off his opponent, Attila Horvath, that day and eighteen fights later he is 3-0 in the UFC.
I made my pro debut on this day 6 years ago. I have come along way since (and lost a bit of hair!) #AlwaysBelieved pic.twitter.com/54DCGkZOj2
— Cathal Pendred (@PendredMMA) February 21, 2015
In honour of the day that’s in it, we decided to take a look back at the best bits from the Irishman’s career.
v Liam Shannon 24-7-2010
Pendred became the Cage Contender welterweight champion after being awarded a unanimous decision victory over Liam Shannon at the promotion’s fifth event.
v Jamie Rogers 27-11-2010
Pendred made his debut with European mixed martial arts promotion Cage Warriors at CWFC 39.
It was viewed as a massive step in the burgeoning career of Pendred, who had gone 6-1 before getting the shout.
He faced Jamie Rogers, who was 8-2 at the time, and passed the test with flying colours via a unanimous decision victory.
v Vladimir Malko 28-5-2011
Cage Warriors obviously liked what they saw in the grinding young prospect and invited him back to compete at CWFC 42 in Cork.
After taking the first round easily, “The Punisher” mounted the Latvian Malko midway through the second and rained down punches, forcing the referee to wave the fight off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zr5rWSGSrc
v David Bielkheden 2-6-2012
After maintaining his undefeated Cage Warriors record with a draw against Danny Mitchell in his previous outing, the Dubliner added another W to his name in a toughly contested bout with David Bielkheden.
A tight affair, Pendred showed typical stubbornness in the grappling department after powering out of a Bielkheden mount before finishing the fight on top and was rewarded with yet another unanimous decision victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSS4omhR5FQ
v Gaels Grimaud 9-3-2013
Pendred beat out Bruno Carvalho after Bielkheden and with four wins and a draw to his name under the Cage Warriors banner, he was given the chance to fight for welterweight gold.
He took on dangerous French fighter Gaels Grimaud, who was riding an eight-fight winning streak, and went five rounds for the first time in his career.
The SBGi product proved how comfortable he felt in the clinch by negating the striking offence of the champion before cementing the fight in the eyes’ of the judges by scoring takedowns in the championship rounds.
After winning the title, Pendred pointed towards the belt and said: “I feel on top of the world. Hard work, dedication and sacrifice pays off. This is the proof of that.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jgeOW1EYQM
v Che Mills 1-6-2013
For his first title defence, Pendred was given the toughest task of his career by taking on former UFC fighter Che Mills.
The Brit missed weight, though, and the bout was changed to a non-title encounter.
That made no difference to Pendred’s motivation though as he took “Beautiful” down in the third round and began landing vicious ground and pound which forced Mills’ corner to throw in the towel.
The Ultimate Fighter 19, April-July 2014
Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn coached opposite one another in the 19th instalment of The Ultimate Fighter, a reality show in which the winner is awarded a contract with the UFC. Pendred competed at middleweight for the competition and was selected as the third 185lber by BJ Penn.
The Irishman won his first fight in the house with a decision victory over Hector Urbina to make it to the semi-finals.
Pendred could not progress any further though after he was beaten by the eventual winner Eddie Gordon but he had shown enough in the tournament to be offered a fight by the UFC.
v Mike King 19-7-2014
Pendred’s first official UFC fight didn’t come on just any old card. Rather it arrived in front of 10,000 of his fellow Irishman at UFC Dublin.
After getting rocked badly in the first, Pendred both shocked and delighted the home crowd by rebounding and taking advantage of a gassed Mike King.
He lived up to every bit of his name by punishing the American with a rear naked choke in the second round in what was one of the most unforgettable moments of the UFC’s second trip to the Irish capital.
v Gasan Umalatov 4-10-2014
Cathal Pendred and his Irish brethren were seen as key players for the UFC’s European push and that was proven by the fact that his next fight came in Stockholm, Sweden.
Ahead of the fight, the Dub predicted an early finish in his favour but he couldn’t quite managed that as the bout went the distance for the eighth time in his career as he was awarded a split decision victory over the gritty Russian.
v Sean Spencer 18-1-2015
Born in Boston, Pendred was given a dream fight on the undercard of Conor McGregor v Dennis Siver at the TD Garden in Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, the fight ended in a little controversy for the Irishman as many in attendance scored the bout in favour of the American but the judges saw gave the nod to Pendred.
While many, including Joe Rogan and Dana White, revealed that they believed that Pendred had lost that fight, that has nothing to do with “The Punisher” who just went out and did his job.
What lies next for Cathal is unclear. He will likely be angling for another spot on a McGregor undercard when “The Notorious” fights for the featherweight belt in July but, whenever he steps foot in the octagon next, we’ll be shouting for “The Punisher” to move to 4-0 in the UFC.
