Completely out of the blue, Cathal Pendred announced his retirement from MMA on Wednesday evening.
The Dubliner cited a diminishing passion for the sport as the main reason for hanging up his gloves along with a desire to pursue interests outside of the sport.
His decision comes a month following a bloodbath loss to Tom Breese at Fight Night Dublin. That defeat meant consecutive losses for the welterweight in the promotion. Previous to the Bresse fight, he had lost to John Howard on the McGregor vs Mendes UFC 189 undercard.
A solid wrestler, Pendred's standup ability was always seen as a major weakness in the Octagon.
This is how Twitter reacted to the 28-year-old's decision.
Respect. https://t.co/iPOmyq6Ocv
— Coach (@CMPunk) November 25, 2015
You may recall that Pendred and CM Punk had a running feud recently.
It has been an honor to coach you and stand in your corner. Best of luck with the next chapter Cathal. https://t.co/bZ1xvIv1Sm
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) November 25, 2015
Must say, @Pendred is a true gentleman & was always very kind to me. Sad to see the sport lose someone like that but best wishes for future!
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) November 25, 2015
All the best in the next chapter bro! https://t.co/93nImkZ2kU
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) November 25, 2015
Just FYI: I don't care about the nasty things you have to say about Pendred as he exits the sport. No need to tweet them directly to me.
— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) November 25, 2015
FWIW: Pendred was 4-2 in the UFC, 28 years old. However, questions about ability to compete at top level lingered. https://t.co/YrnWLlHxCD
— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) November 25, 2015
@Pendred best of luck Cathal. Pleasure to watch
— James Downey (@jamesdowney23) November 25, 2015
Good luck with whatever you do next Cathal https://t.co/DeazlBSdQ1
— Carl Frampton (@RealCFrampton) November 25, 2015
@Pendred big respect mate. Good luck with the future, has been a pleasure watching you fight.
— Alex Corbisiero (@AlexCorbs) November 25, 2015
Good man Cazzer best of luck with the future ? https://t.co/PTa8W4wjEG
— Ian Keatley (@iankeatley) November 25, 2015
Wow. Always a first-class guy to deal with. Wish him the best. https://t.co/6eEi1jRd5n
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) November 25, 2015
RT @Pendred Onto the next chapter..... pic.twitter.com/lRUpAewTvE Best of luck ?
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) November 25, 2015
There's also this from Reddit.
Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
