Cathal Pendred was on the verge of having his UFC dreams come to an end.
After falling short of the finals on The Ultimate Fighter 19, Pendred was knocked down and hurt badly in his official UFC debut against Mike King. With a few more unanswered punches, the Irishman would have gone the way of so many unsuccessful TUF veterans before him.
However, Pendred turned things around and ended up winning on July 19. In doing so, Pendred likely saved his UFC career. He’s likely earned at least a couple of more trips to the Octagon and could now stand alongside Conor McGregor as a face of Irish MMA.
Pendred hasn’t been the only fighter to bounce back in the middle of a UFC bout over recent months. Here are the 10 best comebacks through the first seven months of the 2014 calendar.