Cathal Pendred vs Tom Breese set for UFC Dublin

After it was announced earlier this week that Joseph Duffy was to headline UFC Dublin 3 against Dustin Poirier the ball got rolling on fight announcements for the much anticipated Point Depot event. Today, another Irishman was confirmed for the card as news broke that Cathal Pendred will face Tom Breese in the welterweight division.

Originally from Birmingham, England but now training and fighting out of Montreal’s Tristar gym, Breese will be well known to Irish fans after being scheduled to fight Phil Mulpeter last year before that fight fell through due to injury. Breese, though, did return and got back to winning ways following two injury filled years. Having amassed an impressive 7-0 record by that stage, the Englishman was immediately signed by the UFC where he won his debut against Luiz Dutra in May.

Like Breese, Pendred was a stand-out on the European scene and entered the TUF house, and subsequently the UFC, having held the Cage Warriors welterweight strap. In the world’s biggest promotion Pendred has had a successful, if somewhat unconvincing, quintet of fights since then. In his UFC debut “The Punisher” had the comeback of the year against Mike King which was followed up by two close decision wins over Gasan Umalatov and Sean Spencer before he travelled to Mexico and convincingly beat an unwilling Dodger Montano on home soil. In his last outing, though, Pendred lost for the first time in the UFC against John Howard and will be hell bent on getting back to winning ways against Breese.

Joseph Duffy spoke of his Tristar teammate Breese in an interview with SevereMMA’s Petesy Carroll earlier this week. According to the Donegal man, the 23 year old Brit has a big future ahead of him.

“It would be huge for me if Tom Breese got onto the card,” said Duffy speaking after the announcement of his October 24 date at the 3 Arena with Dustin Poirier.

“He’s a big, strong, tall southpaw. If Tom can get on the card he could really send a message. I think it’s time people sat up and realised what Tom is bringing to the table. I train with the guy day in and day out, I know people are going to be looking at him in a few years and realise how big he is going to be.”

Petesy also spoke with Pendred after the bout announcement

“I think he’s a decent fighter,” explained Pendred. “I’ve seen little bits and pieces of him and I’m happy with him as an opponent to be honest with you. He has a lot of hype around him and I think that will get a lot of people interested in the matchup. He’s undefeated too, again, that makes for even more interest.

“I knew I wasn’t going to get a ranked opponent because things didn’t go according to plan in Vegas, so I think a guy like Tom Breese is the best case scenario for me outside of that really.”

UFC Dublin 3 goes down on October 24th in Dublin’s Point Depot with tickets going on general sale on September 4th. Keep it locked to SevereMMA for all updates as the event approaches.