UFC welterweight and Ultimate Fighter 19 contender Cathal Pendred has retired after six years as a professional MMA fighter. He announced his decision Wednesday on Twitter. Here’s what he had to say:
“I am a passionate person and I always give 100% to what I do,” Pendred wrote. “I have been passionate about MMA for a long time and my focus on the sport has been my driving force for the last 9 years.
I now find that my passion is no longer what it was and I feel that it is time for me to move on. I have other interests that I want to pursue. The time is right to close one door and open another. My love of MMA remains with me. I intend to maintain my involvement with the sport, but I no longer wish to compete.
I have developed as a person because of mixed martial arts, as I learned to cope with the discipline and demands of the sport. MMA has made me a stronger person. This strength will carry through into other areas of my life as I move on to pursue new goals.
Pendred last competed for the UFC on 24 October 2015 at Fight Night 76, in a TKO loss to Tom Breese.
Related: Cathal Pendred Says He Would “Humiliate” CM Punk, “The Laughing Stock Of UFC”
