Cathal Pendred Goes Native in Mexico Ahead of UFC 188

Photos coutesy of Chris Fields

In March, Ireland’s Cathal Pendred told Fightland how he realized he would need a larger amount of time to acclimatize to the Mexico City altitude when he first visited the region during the publicity tour for UFC 188.

The SBG fighter was planning on getting out to Mexico City two weeks before his UFC 188 meeting with Augusto ‘Dodger’ Montano until he noticed the differences of training in the climate during a session with co-main eventer Gilbert Melendez. To deal with it, Pendred has spent a lot of money putting a training camp together about an hour from the Mexico City Arena in Toluca, where he travelled six weeks before the event.

A stable of Pendred’s regular training partners made the journey with him including Chris Fields, Peter Queally, Matt Inman and Colin Meagher. Star-studded cameos came in the shape of UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson and SBG head coach John Kavanagh, who had to make the three-hour trek from the infamous ‘Mac Mansion’ in Henderson, Nevada.

The vast house became playfully referred to as ‘Pendo’s Palace’, and it was far enough away from tourist destinations like Metepec for Pendred to get a general feel for the area and the locals. A local gym even took the Irishman in where he trained with local fighters and got some technical work done with a local boxing coach.

“The people are great over here,” exclaimed Pendred from his Mexican HQ. “We were training with a few of the local guys in the gym we were using, and they were really nice. It was great to have these guys come in and help me out, as well as the guys that I already brought over. They gym we’ve been using has an excellent boxing coach too. This guy has trained some of the top Mexican pro fighters. I got a few good days of pad work with in him so it’s all been a really cool experience.”

The Toluca locals seemed to have warmed to their travelling European contingent who stick out considerably in comparison to the locals according to the Irish welterweight. However, with Mexico City local Augusto ‘Dodger’ Montano set to square off with him on Saturday night, Pendred is under no illusion as to who the Mexican people will be cheering for as he looks to go 4-0 under the UFC banner.

“Everybody asks us what we’re doing over here, we obviously stick out like a sore thumb. I’d tell them I was fighting a local guy, but they were always really nice about it. Needless to say, I’m expecting a bit more of a hostile reception when I walk to the Octagon on Saturday night.

“The people seem to be very similar to the Irish, so I’m expecting their fans to be a lot like the Irish fans—very passionate and vocal. Like Ireland, Mexico has a very rich tradition when it comes to boxing and the people in the country have only really turned to MMA in the last couple of years.

“You only have to look at the last event, UFC 180, to see how much MMA means to the people over here. The fans were amazing. They even sing ‘Ole, Ole, Ole’ like the Irish fans so that should make me feel right at home!” he laughed referencing the Spanish chant that was famously adopted by the Irish soccer fans during World Cup Italia in 1990.

Interestingly, Pendred reported that many of the Mexican people he has spoken to are veering towards Fabricio Werdum when predicting the outcome of the Brazilian’s heavyweight championship bout with Cain Velasquez.

“Weirdly enough, the majority of the Mexican people I’ve been talking to really believe that Werdum can do it. They really seemed to warm to him the last time he was over, maybe it has something to do with him having better Spanish that Cain. He does a lot more media than Cain too.

“He’s also been out here living among the Mexican people a lot longer. I don’t know if any if these things are playing in to how they feel about the matchup, but I definitely get the feeling that they think Werdum will walk away with the title. I don’t agree with them myself, but I really believe it’s going to be a great fight.”

Pendred also discussed the reasons beyond the altitude the played into him bringing his camp to Mexico. For the Irishman, his confidence is built on knowing that he has gone the extra mile with his preparation and ahead of UFC 188, he is adamant that his preparation has been stellar.

“I don’t like to cut corners, I don’t want to have any excuses to not perform to the best of my abilities,” he stated. “Look at Werdum, he’s fighting for a world title, I was out here before him. If you put everything into this game, you will get everything out of it. That’s why I’m here, I knew the altitude thing might be a problem, so I made sure it wouldn’t be by coming out here with plenty of time before the fight.

“The money I’ve spent on this camp is probably equal to the amount of money that I will make on the fight, but I’ve got to look at it like I’ll be taking a huge step with my career. If the rumors are true my next fight should be in Ireland, I won’t have to spend any money on my camp if that’s the case, so I can make up for it then.”

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