Cathal Pendred Signs for The UFC, Meets Mike King in Dublin

Cathal Pendred Signs for The UFC, Meets Mike King in Dublin

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Fresh off a stint on this season's Ultimate Fighter, Cathal Pendred has signed a contract with the UFC and will join SGB Ireland teammates, Conor McGregor,  and recently signed Paddy Holohan on July's UFC Fight Night card in Dublin.

UFC Officials have today confirmed Cathal Prendred will meet Ultimate Fighter season 19 teammate Mike King at UFC Fight Night 46 at The o2 Arena in Dublin, on July 19. UFC Fight Night 46 will stream live on UFC Fight Pass, and is also expected to be shown on BT Sports in the UK. Irish fans will be able to watch the show on free to air 3e. It is not yet know whether the fight will take place on the events the preliminary portion, or the main card.

One of the hottest prospects in European MMA, Cathal Pendred (13-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was widely tipped to take a place on the UFC roster at some stage following a series of victories which saw him beat some of the finest welterweight in Europe including Che Mills and Gael Grimaud, however the Irishman opted to join season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter rather than wait for the call from the UFC to come.

In a Ultimate Fighter first, Pendred did not have to fight for his place to get into the house, as other did, after the UFC could not find a fighter to take him on for various reasons.

Picked 3rd by Team Penn, Pendred kick-started the season by defeating Hector Urbina in the quarterfinals via unanimous decision. In the semifinals, he lost a razor-thin split decision to now-finalist Eddie Gordon, a bout which many feel, including Dana White should have gone the other way.

His opponent, Mike King (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) defeated Nordine Taleb to earn a place in The Ultimate Fighter season 19 house, before losing a close decision in the quarterfinals Eddie Gordon,  in a bout where King suffered a gruesome eye poke but continued to fight despite the injury.

A talented wrestler, Mike King has never been the distance in his 5 professional fight career dating back to 2011 with 4 submission - 2 due to strikes, and 1 TKO. When he steps into the octagon to face Pendred it will be 18 months since his last professional bout, excluding his time in TUF. 

With the addition of Pendred vs King UFC Fight Night 46 includes:
Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandao
Zak Cummings vs. Gunnar Nelson
Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett
Ilir Latifi vs. Tom Lawlor
Cody Donovan vs. Nikita Krylov
Phil Harris vs. Neil Seery
Trevor Smith vs. Tor Troeng
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Norman Parke
Patrick Holohan vs. Josh Sampo
Mike King vs. Cathal Pendred

Stay tuned to kingdomMMA.co.uk for all the latest on UFC Fight Night 46 Dublin