This Saturday marks the return of Brendan Loughnane to the smart-cage and the start of this year’s PFL season. Founded in 2017, the PFL, or Professional Fight League, has become one of the fastest-growing MMA promotions worldwide.
Since their first season in 2018, the PFL has brought in many notable names, such as Kayla Harrison, Rory MacDonald and Fabricio Werdum. What makes the promotion unique is the format used. Instead of the usual ‘win a few fights and hope you get offered a title shot’, the PFL uses a standardised league that gives all fighters involved a fair chance at a title shot. Not only this, but the winner of each division takes home a life-changing million-dollar cheque.
Ahead of the new season, we’ve decided to delve into the rollercoaster journey last year’s featherweight champion and first British PFL competitor, Brendan Loughnane, went on to become the face of the PFL.
Brendan Loughnane: From the Streets of Manchester
Born and bred in Manchester, Loughnane started training MMA for the first time in 2008. Though in his own words on the James English podcast, the gym he joined was full of “the local lunatics” and as far from professional as can be. Nevertheless, his ‘coaches’ could tell he was quicker than most at grasping the sport, so they booked him in for his first amateur bout. The 18-year-old at the time would walk away from the fight winning by TKO but has since described the victory as a complete “fluke”. Loughnane would have four more amateur bouts, winning them all and slowly realizing his potential in the sport.
At the time, in England, MMA was frowned upon by the majority and not viewed as a career choice by anyone. But Loughnane took the gamble to continue with it, making his professional debut in 2010.
Brendan Loughnane: The Ultimate Fighter
After two years of competing at any promotion willing to pay the bills, the Mancunian’s record was already an impressive 6-0. So in June of 2012, Loughnane was one of the many fighters that applied to be on The Ultimate Fighter. Only ten make it onto the show, and the 22-year-old at the time would be the second reserve for the lightweight roster.
Fortunately for Loughnane, Team UK’s Michael Pastou suffered an injury during the show, allowing the Brit to get his first taste of the UFC. Even on short notice, he quickly made an impact with a solid win over the undefeated Ozzy Patrick Iodice. However, the Manchester native would come up short in the tournament, losing in the semi-finals against a much more experienced fighter in Norman Parke. Parke went on to win the lightweight side of the show, and Robert Whittaker would win the welterweight side of things.
Post TUF Run
Straight after The Ultimate Fighter ended, Loughnane would fight on the undercard of the season finale, unfortunately suffering a unanimous decision loss to Mike Wilkinson, who was 7-0 at the time. However, being exposed to the biggest MMA promotion in the world clearly started a fire inside of him, and from there, the Mancunian would go on to win eleven out of thirteen of his next fights. It’s also worth noting he was putting on these high-level performances at featherweight and lightweight. One of his best wins came from an insane head-kick knockout, which you can see below.
The two losses came from split decisions at which there are arguments that Loughnane should’ve won them both. But more importantly, he avenged his loss to Wilkinson. Knocking him out in the first round, displaying the improvements to his skillset he’d been making throughout his career.
Dana White’s Contender Series Snub
It’s now 2019, and Loughnane is well-established as one of the best MMA fighters the UK has to offer. So fans were surprised the UFC made him ‘try out’ on Dana White’s Contender Series instead of being offered a contract without question. Nonetheless, the now 29-year-old grasped at the opportunity and fought Bill Algeo for a chance to sign with the UFC.
One of the biggest fights of his career so far, and he absolutely delivered. Loughnane put on a striking clinic against a tough opponent, getting his hand raised and winning every round on the judge’s scorecards. However, controversy struck when Dana White opted against signing the Brit. Revealing that it was because of the takedown he landed in the last ten seconds.
Loughnane struggled to understand the reasoning behind the choices White made that night.
“Seeing how the other guy who fought on the card took a guy down for three rounds and then got a contract, it was like, ‘Wow, I took a 10-second takedown and didn’t get one, but you signed a guy that took one for three rounds.’ It’s a bit crazy, a bit of a contradiction.”
“After watching the other fights that night, I feel like mine was the best fight,” Loughnane said. “And I had the toughest opponent. If you were gonna give it to anyone, I felt like I had deserved it more than the rest. But ultimately, Dana didn’t.”
Quotes from BloodyElbow.com
PFL 2021
Brendan Loughnane was in a rough place after being snubbed by White at a chance of making it into the UFC. In an interview with MMA Junkie, he spoke about the depression that followed for the next couple of weeks. Always believing he was destined to fight in the top ten of the UFC, he explained that “it was a tough pill to swallow”.
However, after his performance on the Contender Series, offers started to flood in from every MMA organisation under the sun. The Mancunian decided to carry the UK flag into the PFL, becoming their first British signing. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Loughnane explained his reasoning.
“A couple of reasons: One is the arenas; we’re in the Mandalay Bay right now, (and) there’s Madison Square Garden. Great purses and the chance to be a millionaire in six months.”
Loughnane picked up two showcase wins in 2019 before joining the featherweight roster for the third season in 2021. He found success in the regular season, winning both of his fights. But fell short in the semi-finals after suffering a split-decision loss to the undefeated Movlid Khaybulaev, who subsequently went on to win that season.
PFL 2022
With his first season done and dusted, Loughnane would again compete in the 145lb division of the 2022 season. The featherweight swore to change the lives of the people closest to him by capturing gold and bringing home the million-dollar cheque. Loughnane got his hand raised in his regular season fights after winning them both by decision. However, it was clear he was performing far from his best. Loughnane later revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani, post-2022 season, that he tore his MCL ten days out from the Ryoji Kudo.
His semi-final bout was against the UFC-experienced and state-champion wrestler Chris Wade. Many quickly counted the Mancunian out because of the high-level wrestling the American would bring to every fight. However, even as the underdog, Loughnane put on a starstudded performance and left victorious, winning all three rounds and cementing his spot in the finals.
The Manchester Millionaire
Loughnane faced Bubba Jenkins in the finale of the PFL season. “Bad Man” is one of the best wrestlers America has produced. A well-accomplished wrestling career saw him win the NCAA championship in 2011. So all eyes were on him when he made his long-anticipated jump to MMA, and with a record of 19-5 (at the time), Jenkins has established himself as a fierce competitor.
The championship battle went down at the iconic Madison Square Garden on the 25th of November. The fight lived up to the hype, with both fighters having big moments throughout. But ultimately, the later the bout went on, the more success Loughnane was having. The Brit consistently defended himself from takedown attempts while landing the bigger shots on the feet. In the fourth round, he stopped Jenkins with a nasty right hand straight down the pipe and some follow-up shots. See the full sequence below.
From the streets of Manchester, fighting for £150 and being trained by “the local lunatics”, Loughnane had just become a world champion and a millionaire all in one night.
This Saturday, the featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane returns to defend his belt in Sin City. He looks to continue his MMA legacy by taking on former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes. Find out where you can watch the bout go down here.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
