Cathal Pendred fires back at CM Punk after controversial UFC Fight Night 59 win

Phil “CM Punk” Brooks

Cathal Pendred was awfully fortunate to walk away with a win at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 59 event, but afterward, he had a response to one of his critics.

During a FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary-card bout at Boston’s TD Garden, Pendred was backed by many of his fellow Irishmen, who arrived in healthy numbers and were a loud presence throughout the event. Perhaps it’s one of the reasons the judges inexplicably scored the fight for Pendred (16-2-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who seemed well on his way to a unanimous-decision loss to welterweight Sean Spencer (12-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC).

Nearly every media outlet scored the fight for Pendred, and right before the event broadcast shifted to main-card action, event UFC President Dana White and color commentator Joe Rogan addressed the bad call to the TV audience.

Twitter users were rightfully riled up about the decision. Even former WWE star and recent UFC signee Phil “CM Punk” Brooks weighed in (via Twitter):

Despite a likely avalanche of tweets directed Pendred’s way, Punk’s message caught his attention after the fight. Punk, who has no amateur or pro MMA experience but has begun his preparation at the famed Roufusport gym under head trainer Duke Roufus, will eventually make a heavily promoted UFC debut, but neither he nor UFC officials have offered a potential timeline for it.

Soon after Pendred’s win, which moved him to a deceiving 3-0 in the UFC (he earned another close split-decision victory over Gasan Umalatov in his previous bout), many Twitter users proposed a matchup: Pit Pendred, who looks legit because of his UFC record, against Punk.

Pendred, though, suggested the 36-year-old Punk is an unlikely option (via Twitter):

UFC officials have suggested Punk’s opponent will come from outside the organization and be less experienced than most current UFC fighters. However, if they want to capitalize on a budding rivalry, it appears Pendred could be an option if they’re willing to overlook the obvious experience gap.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 59, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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Check out CM Punk’s recent Q&A session with UFC fans, which was all kinds of awkward:

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