CM Punk Loses Potential First UFC Challenger As Cathal Pendred Officially Retires From MMA

Since 2009, Cathal Pendred has been a staple in the welterweight division (sometimes in the middleweight division) in MMA. With a 17-4-1 record, Pendred was no slouch when it comes to stepping into the cage. His biggest achievement throughout his career was winning the Cage Contender Welterweight Championship on March 12, 2011 by defeating Liam Shannon in the third round with a TKO.

Now it seems that Cathal Pendred has decided to hang up the MMA fighting gloves. Recent reports show Pendred has called it quits, officially retiring from MMA.

According to FOX Sports, Cathal Pendred took to his official Twitter account to announce his retirement from MMA. Given the fact that Twitter only allows a certain number of characters per tweet, Pendred wrote his statement on some word processor, converted it into a picture, and uploaded it as follows.

Onto the next chapter….. pic.twitter.com/ebKMx666qP

— Cathal Pendred (@Pendred) November 25, 2015

Analyzing what Cathal Pendred wrote, he is retiring from MMA because he is no longer passionate about competing. If that is the case, his last two performances at UFC events being back-to-back losses make sense. Pendred’s first loss came on July 11, 2015, when he fought John Howard at UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor. Pendred lost via split decision. Pendred’s next fight would be more decisive when he was TKO’d with a front kick to the body followed by ground-and-pound by Tom Breese, October 24, 2015, at UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka.

Another detail of notice is that Cathal Pendred only said he is officially done competing in MMA. Pendred stresses he still has a love for the sport and will continue to support his teammates whenever he can. This may translate to still training with them, providing advice in areas he may see problems in.

Many in the MMA community have already wished Cathal Pendred the best as he moves on in the next chapter of his life. The only person who at this time is losing out with Pendred’s retirement is CM Punk. Earlier this year, Pendred expressed interest in being Punk’s inaugural opponent in the UFC especially when nobody else seemed to show interest. With Pendred now gone, it is uncertain if anyone will be willing to fight Punk, especially fighters who feel disdain for Punk being in UFC. Punk has no prior experience in MMA before joining the biggest MMA promotion in the world. That along with his background in professional wrestling are considered to be insulting to many MMA fighters, especially those signed to UFC. Supporters of Punk often cite Brock Lesnar being a former professional wrestler at the time who made a mark in UFC. However, they fail to mention Lesnar had at least one MMA fight on his record prior to his UFC debut.

It is possible that Cathal Pendred could have done what other past MMA fighters have done and just keep competing. Unfortunately, Pendred’s lack of passion would have resulted in him becoming a shell of what he used to be earlier in his MMA career. Pendred would probably tarnish his legacy and become either a sideshow or joke in the process, too. By announcing his retirement, Pendred leaves MMA on a high note despite his last two fights being losses. Also, Pendred gets the added luxury of leaving on his own terms and nobody else’s. As mentioned by MMA Mania in their report, people got to respect a man who knows when to say when.

[Image via Cathal Pendred’s Official Facebook Page]