The Ultimate Fighter 19, episode 2 recap: Cathal Pendred lives up to his reputation

Episode two of The Ultimate Fighter started off with the fighters making their way into the house for the first time.

The fighters spent a decent amount of time getting acquainted with the place they will lie their heads for the duration of the competition.

After the fighters got used to their new surroundings, the stage was set for the first fight of the season between Hector Urbina of Team Edgar and Cathal Pendred of Team Penn.

Before those two went at it in the octagon, the teams had their first training session with their coaches. Each team was quick to speak about the respect they have for both Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn.

The focus of the episode then shifted to Pendred and Urbina as they prepared for their tilt at the end of the episode.

First up was Pendred, who came into the show with quite the reputation despite not having to fight his way into the house. UFC President Dana White even spoke about how many people contact him on Twitter about signing Pendred to a contract, as they felt he was very deserving.

Pendred made his reputation in his homeland of Ireland, where he said mixed martial arts wasn't really even heard of until about a year ago when the sport exploded.

Pendred showed that he was well aware of his reputation as a quality fighter and carried a great amount of confidence because of it. In preparation for fights, Pendred said that he does not worry about his opponents. To him, his opponent does not matter, as they will not show him anything that he hasn't seen nor anything he hasn't prepared for. His main focus is to simply get himself ready for the fight.

His opponent Urbina doesn't carry Pendred's reputation, but does carry the motivation of being a role model to all of his younger siblings.

Despite his strength in wrestling, Urbina was the last pick of Team Edgar, which made him the prohibited underdog not just against Pendred, but of the entire competition overall.

Both men carried the pride of their home countries, Urbina being from Mexico and Pendred of Ireland, and that was on full display during the weigh-in for the fight.

Both men weighed in with their country's flag in tow, as Pendred weighed in at 186 pounds and Urbina 185. The men went face-to-face and had an intense moment that could have turned into fisticuffs, but cooler heads prevailed. Urbina did manage to do some trash talk in his native language of Spanish. Meanwhile, Pendred remained calmed and greeted it all with a smile.

Finally, it was fight day and the intensity had reached its peak. Both men entered the octagon with their native flags and the fight is on.

The fight was mostly even during the first round until Urbina caught Pendred off guard with a couple of hard punches. He even knocked him down on one occasion, but could not capitalize when it came to finishing the bout. However, it did earn him the nod for round one.

In round two, Urbina was noticeably tired and didn't quite possess the fervor he did in the first. Pendred showcased his experience by withstanding Urbina's best shot and dictated the pace by taking down the exhausted Urbina on multiple occasions.

Urbina hung tough, but lost the second round to Pendred. After going to the scorecards, it was determined the fight would go to a final and decisive third round.

Pendred dominated the round from essentially beginning to end by taking down Urbina and making him earn every single inch in order to get back to his feet. Pendred not only held down Urbina and prevented him from throwing punches, but he also made Urbina expend all of his energy simply getting back to his feet.  Although Edgar urged Urbina to continue grinding, Urbina was physically spent.

Once Urbina did get back to his feet late in the round, Pendred quickly managed to put Urbina back on the mat with a big slam, which all but wrapped things up.

After the final horn, it was announced that Pendred had indeed won the fight by decision and eliminated Urbina from the competition in the process.

Not long after the fight, winning coach Penn announced the competition's next fight. The next fight will be a showdown of light heavyweights, as Daniel Spohn will go up against Todd Monaghan.