UFC Fight Night 46 results: Cathal Pendred survives first to choke out Mike King

DUBLIN – Cathal Pendred had to survive an absolutely atrocious first round against Mike King, but the payoff was huge in the second.

Pendred (14-2-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) choked his “TUF 19? teammate King (5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) unconscious in the second round after weathering a major storm from King in the first round. And in the aftermath, Pendred’s home Dublin fans threatened to cheer the roof off the place.

The middleweight bout was part of today’s UFC Fight Night 46 preliminary card at The O2 in Dublin. The entire event streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Pendred came forward right away to open the fight, but King silenced the crowd in a hurry when he drove Pendred to the canvas with a takedown. The Irishman was back to his feet quickly, though, and the two looked to trade in the center of the cage. King landed a right that pushed Pendred back, but Pendred tied him up and looked for a takedown of his own.

He finally got it 90 seconds into the frame, but King was back up without much damage taken. Once there, he didn’t waste much time. He dropped Pendred with a big punch, then unleashed a torrent of bombs on him on the ground. The crowd cheered for Pendred to survive, and King slowed the pace rather than punching himself out. But he got to full mount, then took Pendred’s back with a rear-naked choke locked on. King took back mount and started pounding away from there. Pendred was given plenty of chances to survive as he took damage from King’s fists.

But King went after an armbar, and when he couldn’t get it and Pendred exploded back to his feet, the crowd exploded as well. King looked fairly tired as the round came to a close, unable to throw much more after his big barrage.

In the second, King’s hands were down to open, and Pendred looked to take advantage. He landed a right uppercut, then another after a short clinch. King fired back, but not at the same pace he had in the first. He landed a kick to the body, but it was just enough to have Pendred pick him up and slam him.

But Pendred looked tired, too, and couldn’t keep King down on the ground as the two got back to their feet with three minutes left. Things started to get sloppy from there, but with two minutes left, Pendred tried to take King’s back along the fence. He did and tied him up with a body triangle. He had it, and before King could tap, he was unconscious from the choke.

After King came to, he held his right knee, which may have been injured in the scramble leading up to Pendred’s choke. He needed help leaving the cage.

“I feel fantastic,” Pendred said in the cage after the fight. “I was sitting out there as a fan five and a half years ago, and I said, ‘I’m going to fight in there one day, and I’m going to fight in there the next time they come back to Dublin.’”

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 46 results include:

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