Cathal Pendred retires from MMA: 'It is time for me to move on'

SBG Ireland welterweight Cathal Pendred took to Twitter on Wednesday to call it quits on his professional mixed martial arts fighting career. The 28-year-old cited a lack of passion for competition as his motivating reason.

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

— Cathal Pendred (@Pendred) November 25, 2015

Pendred retires from MMA with a record of 17-4-1, although he dropped his last two straight. Most recently, he was stopped at 4:37 in the first round by Tom Breese in October at UFC Fight Night 76.

Pendred rose to prominence on the local fight circuit in Europe before going undefeated in the highly-respected Cage Warriors Fighting Championship promotion, going 5-0-1.

The Irish fighter eventually became a cast member on the ninteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) where he made it to the tournament's semifinals losing to recent UFC castoff Eddie Gordon. He was a part of B.J. Penn's team.

Pendred ultimately went 4-2 inside the Octagon and holds wins over UFC veterans Che Mills, Sean Spencer, Nico Musoke, David Bielkheden and Gasan Umalatov.

He is the teammate of other UFC fighters Conor McGregor, Paddy Holohan and Aisling Daly.