Cathal Pendred has apparently retired from MMA

It looks like Irish UFC welterweight Cathal Pendred has decided to step away from the promotion and the sport of MMA. The 28-year-old posted a lengthy statement on Twitter earlier today, announcing that he lacked the necessary passion to continue fighting. Here's his tweet:

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

— Cathal Pendred (@Pendred) November 25, 2015

Pendred (17-4-1) was born in the US, but his Irish immigrant parents moved back to Dublin when he was a child. Most of his early career took place in Ireland and the UK, where he won the Cage Warriors welterweight championship in 2013.

He was then selected to be a contestant on season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter. He lost in the semi-finals, but was given a fight at the finale and came back to beat Mike King. He reeled off three wins in a row after that, but a couple of them were very questionable decisions.

He dropped his first UFC bout in July, a split decision to John Howard. He was then knocked out by Tom Breeze at UFC Dublin in October.