SOME BELOW-PAR PERFORMANCES in the UFC have had a detrimental impact on Cathal Pendredโs popularity among some fans, but the Straight Blast Gym welterweight still garners plenty of interest in the MMA community.
At the media day ahead of his clash with Tom Breese tomorrow evening at UFC Fight Night 76, the size of the scrum of reporters that surrounded Pendred was only matched by that of SBG team-mate Paddy Holohan, who features in the showโs main event.
Five fights into his UFC career so far, Pendred has yet to hit top form. Nevertheless, of all the Irish fighters currently in the UFC, only Conor McGregor has picked up more wins.
Pendred started his time with MMAโs largest organisation with four successive victories, but that streak was brought to an end by John Howard in July. If Breese can make it back-to-back defeats this weekend, Pendred might be looking over his shoulder.
Cutting loose a fighter with a 4-2 record in the octagon would be harsh, but with the UFC roster now bigger than itโs ever been, the organisation is becoming more unforgiving when it comes to giving fighters their marching orders. However, Pendred insists that any concerns about being cut wonโt be driving him tomorrow night.
โIโm always focused on winning my fight so as long as I do that, I donโt have to worry about it,โ he told The42. โI wouldnโt let something like that creep into my mindset.โ
Pendred made his UFC debut in Dublin last year when a raucous Irish crowd roared him on to victory against Mike King, despite some early difficulties in the bout. The Dubliner is hoping for similar support tomorrow but itโs not something heโs relying on.
โThe Irish supporters are incredible when it comes to any sport,โ said Pendred. โThey were the talk of the Rugby World Cup, just like in the European Championships in soccer a few years ago. The Irish, when it comes to supporting their own, are phenomenal.
โWhen youโre out there in front of 10,000 Irish fans and theyโre just going absolutely crazy with pride and passion, itโs hard not to feed off that. I was in a bad position last year and they gave me energy. I donโt want to rely on that this time but Iโm going to feed off it from the get-go and just use that energy from the start to put it on my opponent.โ
Tom Breese won his UFC debut by first-round TKO back in May. He and Pendred almost crossed paths during the latterโs reign as Cage Warriors champion, and the Englishman was vocal in his desire to fight Pendred at UFC Dublin before they were officially matched up. But according to Pendred, Breese has bitten off more than he can chew.
Pendred: โHeโs young and heโs inexperienced. I think heโs got a bit of confidence about him that he hasnโt really earned yet. He hasnโt had the hard fights. He only had one fight in Cage Warriors, which is a big show.
โWhen you look at the list of names of opponents that heโs fought, even the one guy he fought in the UFC [Luiz Jorge Dutra], I donโt think theyโre as high-calibre as the guys Iโve been fighting and theyโre nowhere near the calibre of guy that I am. I think thatโs the biggest difference and thatโs why heโs in for a shock once I get a hold of him on Saturday.โ
Diff type of footballer these days and they aint any better they are not even good enough to stand beside Stevie/keano/,viera/scholes . All them men played ball and took and gave a tackle. All thats there now with exception of one or two is a glorified bunch of mammy boys
Bang on from Gerrard. Mings tackle looked like a sore one, may have even injured Saka badly but it was just bad luck and thatโs part of contact sport! The game as a spectacle has been majorly dented by soft officiating over the past 10 years lets not make it even worse.
So just because Gerrard has screws in his hips and 16 different operations thatโs means that every English player from now on needs to end up like him or they havenโt had it โtoughโ enough. What a silly comment from Gerrard. Probably said in the heat of the moment after the defeat I hope!
@kev egan: No heโs highlighting that itโs still a contact sport. To many fairies like saka expecting a foul every time they fall down cause someone breathed on them while running. Not every bit of physical contact is a foul. Itโs not basketball
@Phil Redmond: fairiesโฆ.
Thereโs clips of Gerrard saying his Rangers players need more protection..
Iโm sure Stevie would be telling Saka to toughen up if he was a Villa playerโฆ
Twas an awful fall in fairness Steve,Glad ur okโฆ
Iโm a huge fan of Stevie but this attitude of โfairies vs tough menโ is nonsense. Villa kicked him off the pitch, Mings was lucky not to see red. Players who rough up players and repeatedly foul are not toughโฆ. theyโre a bit rubbish at football is all.