Irish MMA has been making waves on the international scene ever since Norman Parke and Conor McGregor broke into the UFC. Now Irish MMA looks set to make even bigger waves in 2014 as the Dublin pair of Cathal “The Punisher” Pendred (13-2-1) and Chris “The Killing” Fields (10-5-1) have been revealed to be amongst the 16 members of the cast for the upcoming TUF 19 season.
This marks the very first time someone from the Republic of Ireland has ever made it into the TUF house. Norman Parke, who hails from Northern Ireland, was previously the only fighter from the island of Ireland to make it into a TUF house and he went on to win the season in 2012.
The pair, who both come from the SBG gym and are teammates of UFC fighters McGregor and Gunnar Nelson, were also revealed to be on BJ Penn’s team that also consisted of coaches like Mark Coleman, John Hackleman, André Pederneiras, and Jason Parillo.
Cathal is the Cage Warriors welterweight champ and will compete in the middleweight division for this season, while Fields is a former Cage Warriors middleweight champ and will compete in the light-heavyweight division.
No word yet as to how the pair got on and don’t expect there to be as all cast members are made sign non-disclosure agreements. The first episode, the fight to get into the house, is slated to air in April.
Click here for full cast list.