UFC Welterweight Cathal Pendred Makes Surprise Retirement Announcement

Cathal Pendred, an Irish welterweight competing in the UFC and a training teammate of Conor McGregor, announced his retirement Wednesday.

Pendred broke the news in an open letter distributed through his personal Twitter account:

"

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

— Cathal Pendred (@Pendred) November 25, 2015"

The announcement undoubtedly comes as a surprise to fans, as the 28-year-old Pendred never previously hinted he was pondering retirement and apparently never suffered a major injury. Pendred has competed three times in 2015.

The letter read in part that "I now find my passion [for MMA] is no longer what it was and I feel it is time for me to move on."

Pendred also wrote that he intends to "maintain my involvement with the sport, but I no longer wish to compete," adding that he has "other interests that I want to pursue." Pendred did not elaborate on what those interests might be. 

The Irishman retires with a professional record of 17-4-1, including a 4-2 record in the UFC. He lost his last two bouts, a split-decision loss to John Howard and, most recently, a first-round knockout to Tom Breese in his hometown of Dublin.

Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

Pendred trained at the vaunted SBG Ireland gym alongside McGregor and other standouts Gunnar Nelson, Paddy Holohan and Aisling Daly. He entered the UFC in 2014 after competing as a middleweight contestant on the 19th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Despite losing to eventual season champion Eddie Gordon, Pendred caught on with the UFC after defeating fellow contestant Mike King at UFC Fight Night 46.

After that bout, Pendred moved to welterweight, the division at which he fought most of his UFC bouts and originally found MMA success in Great Britain's Cage Warriors organization, where he was welterweight champion before trying out for TUF. 

Despite his success in the UFC, Pendred garnered some negative attention there for his conservative, low-action style and at least one controversial decision win.