MMA fighter Cathal Pendred hailed a hero for trying to save a dying dolphin

A MIXED martial arts fighter who tried to save a dying dolphin in Ireland has been hailed a hero and earned himself a legion of new fans.

Cage fighter Cathal Pendred proves he’s not just a tough guy. Picture: Twitter

WHEN cage fighter Cathal Pendred steps into battle he is known as “The Punisher” but the tough guy is now being called a hero after he tried to save a dying dolphin.

The mixed martial artist spent an hour in the icy waters of the Atlantic on Sunday after the dolphin washed up on the west coast of Ireland.

Pendred, an Irish competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), had attended a wedding the night before and was walking on the beach with his model girlfriend Michele McGrath when he saw a crowd gathered near the water.

What a guy. Twitter photo of Pendred in the UFC office with a gold belt he hopes to earn one day.

“We were told by the other people looking on that there was a baby dolphin that was quite injured and kept getting pushed back to shore by the waves,” Pendred told FOX Sports.

Pendred decided to see if he could help a man who was in the water.

“The man told me he had been there for a while,” Pendred said.

“He was now exhausted so I told him I would take over trying to help.”

Pendred struggled to push the dolphin, which was bleeding and had a number of cuts, past the waves but the ocean current and rocky terrain made it difficult.

“At one point the current dragged him into a very rocky, shallow area of the beach and the dolphin became stuck. I couldn’t push him as his underside was scratching off the rocks and cutting him,” Pendred said.

Those muscles were put to good use outside of the octagon.

“So that’s when I picked up the dolphin and brought him to a deeper, less rocky area.

“I eventually was able to push him out past the waves and into the deeper part of the water.”

Pendred said he stayed around for a while to make sure the dolphin wasn’t washed back in before heading back to his hotel room.

Unfortunately, Pendred later tweeted that the dolphin did not survive.

But that hasn't stopped people from calling the 26-year-old fighter a hero.