CATHAL PENDRED HAS been added to the UFC Boston line-up.
Conor McGregor’s fight with Denis Siver will headline the card on 18 January.
Fellow Dubliner Pendred will take on American Sean Spencer in a three-round welterweight bout.
Both Pendred and Spencer go into the fight on the back of wins over Russia’s Gasan Umalatov and Brazil’s Paulo Thiago respectively.
SBG team-mate Paddy Holohan also takes on veteran Shane Howell.
“Boston is my birth place; my parents were working in Boston when I was born in ’87 and I lived there until I was four,” said Pendred.
“This is a dream come true. I haven’t been back since I left and to be making my return there to fight in the UFC, it’s like something out of a movie.
“The people of Boston won’t need to adopt me, I am one of them. The city is in rich in Irish heritage. Nearly every person from Boston has some sort of Irish roots.”
Yesterday, Pendred hinted at the announcement when appearing at the Web Summit.
“There’s a fight announcement coming pretty soon,” he said. “I can’t say anything yet. It’s going to be a big one. I’d say people can probably guess but I’ll keep tight-lipped about it until I can say anything.”
Pendred is hoping to improve his UFC record to an unbeaten 3-0. The 27-year-old’s UFC career got off to a breathtaking start when he beat King in a remarkable come from behind win that earned him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Had he lost, Pendred’s UFC career could have been over before it even started and he admits that the stars aligned for him that night in Dublin.
“Afterwards I walked out of the Octagon and went over and embraced my family because they obviously knew how much the whole thing meant to me. I walked backstage and everyone was trying to grab me and get a hold of me. It was very surreal.
“Then I walked backstage and Dana White, the President of the UFC, literally came running down towards me.”
– additional reporting by Eoin O’Callaghan
Originally published at 10.10.
