Pendred on his retirement: 'Fighting's not something you do half-heartedly'

Cathal Pendred announced his decision to retire from mixed martial arts a week ago, but it's something he's been thinking about for quite some time which is why he's positive he made the right choice.

With a 4-2 record in the UFC and a stint on "The Ultimate Fighter" season 19, Pendred's announcement came as a shock to many considering how hard the Irish welterweight worked just to get his shot to fight in the world's biggest MMA promotion.

Pendred made his MMA debut in 2009, but over the past six years he's put in a lot of work and accomplished more than most fighters could ever dream so he's satisfied with the career he made and he's ready to move onto new ventures.

"Obviously, it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing. I didn't just think 'that's it' and then tweet that out that I was done. It had kind of been on my mind for a while," Pendred told FOX Sports on Monday. "Ultimately, I just made the decision and I stand by it, I think I made the right decision.

"Fighting's not something you do half-heartedly and my heart wasn't in it as much as it had been. I have other things that are taking my interests. It's one of those things when you're an MMA fighter it consumes your whole life so you can't really challenge yourself with anything else and I just decided it was the right time."

A mainstay at the SBG team in Ireland for several years, Pendred worked alongside UFC notables such as Conor McGregor and Gunnar Nelson on a daily basis, but recently going into the gym became a duty rather than a joy and it served as a wake-up call that maybe he needed to take a step away from the sport.

"I think just with training even I'd wake up and it became like a job. Like 'ugh, I have to go to the gym now' and it had never been like that before," Pendred explained. "I was always excited about everything. It just started off like that and went from that and kind of snow balled. The enjoyment kind of disappeared and as the enjoyment disappeared so did the hunger.

"I only got to where I am because I'm a very determined and hungry guy. It's no secret that I defeated the odds to get where I am. Nearly every opponent that I faced and defeated, I wasn't supposed to beat them and that was just down to my grit and determination. When I realized I was losing that, I figured I'm kind of in a bad place. It's not really not the right thing to do to continue on."

As soon as he realized his heart was no longer fully committed to fighting, Pendred knew it was time to get out. The Irish welterweight knew deep down that just competing for the sake of paycheck was dangerous business, especially when work involves fighters trying to knock him out every time he steps into the Octagon.

"In the fight business when the passion is lost and you're just turning up for a paycheck, you're putting yourself in danger, you're putting your health at risk," Pendred said. "You've got to look at it differently than other athletes would and that's why I made the decision."

Pendred first got interested in MMA through "The Ultimate Fighter" so competing on the show was already a dream come true, but then from there he made a career in the UFC with four wins in six tries. There are a lot of fighters who never even got a chance to compete in the UFC, much less get four wins and that's something Pendred will never forget.

It's also part of the reason he's able to put MMA behind him now because Pendred knows he already did something pretty special and that can never be taken away.

"I sometimes still have to pinch myself at what I did," Pendred said. "I'm very proud of myself and what I achieved. I started out, my first relationship with this sport, I was just a fan like anybody else and just started watching in my teenage years. If you told me then that I would end up being a UFC fighter with four wins, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

"It's been an incredible experience and an incredible journey to have gone from being a fan as a teenager to taking up the sport with relatively no martial arts experience to what I did outside the UFC, won titles and stuff and made it to "The Ultimate Fighter." Then I got to the UFC and went on a four-fight win streak. It's all been incredible. I'll always look back fondly."

With his fighting career officially at an end, Pendred has plenty to keep him busy outside the cage with a number of projects and businesses lined up. He'll be opening his first restaurant in Dublin in the near future while doing analyst work for an Irish television station ahead of UFC 194. Pendred has also been writing about MMA a lot more lately and he also has aspirations to dabble in acting now that he's no longer competing full time.

Pendred will never be too far away from the sport, but as far as actually fighting again he's confident those days are behind him. He's happy with the career he put together and now it's time for Pendred to move onto the next phase of his life.

"I was a bit nervous before I announced it, but I'm more at ease now that I have," Pendred. "I'm excited about everything in the future that I want to pursue. I have no doubt, I've been a competitor all my life and I love to compete. That's what got me into the sport, and I have no doubt that competitive edge will be burning inside, but I still plan on being involved with my team and training with the guys and that's where I'll get rid of that competitiveness just on the mats with the guys. 

"I don't think we'll ever see me back in there competing."