Tag: Brendan Loughnane

Brendan Loughnane relishes challenge of fighting Marlon Moraes to open season at 2023 PFL 1

The start to PFL champ Brendan Loughnane’s season can’t be more appealing than having to face former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes.

Given that reigning PFL featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] is looking for “name value” fights, the start to his 2023 season can’t be more appealing than having to face [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag].

Is he surprised to draw the former UFC title challenger right off the bat?

“Not really, no,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie Radio. “They’re probably paying him a lot of money. They want to get the value out of Marlon, too, right?”

Loughnane (26-4) and Moraes (23-11-1) meet in Saturday’s ESPN-televised PFL 1 headliner at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. Moraes announced his retirement last April on the heels of a four-fight losing streak, but then he unretired less than six months later to sign with the PFL.

Moraes was one of a few splash signings late last year, and he made his promotional debut in November at the PFL Championships event where he suffered a third-round TKO to Sheymon Moraes to push his losing streak to five after a fight that Marlon was winning until the finish.

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Even though it’s been a rough stretch for Moraes since 2020, Loughnane recognizes that he’s still a fighter who holds wins over current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (first-round knockout) and former UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo (split decision). Loughnane sees him as a challenge and appreciates the matchup as opposed to someone who otherwise might be considered a no-name.

“Imagine you get this guy and then everybody in the U.K. tuning in, and they’re like, ‘Oh, who’s this guy?’ Nobody knows. But then they go, ‘Oh, Marlon?’ Loughnane said. “Everyone knows he’s the guy that knocked out Sterling. He’s the guy that beat Aldo not too long ago. He’s been on a bit of a skid, but he was beating Sheymon comfortably. …

“Everyone’s gonna tune in to watch Brendan and Marlon, two strikers going at it. You’ve got the aggressive guy, you’ve got the thinker, you’ve got the ’45er, you’ve got the ’35er that’s coming up and not depleting himself anymore. This is one that the fan’s win on.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL 1.

UFC veterans in MMA and boxing action March 30-April 1

Check out which UFC veterans are in MMA and boxing action across the globe this weekend.

The UFC idle this week after a trip to San Antonio for UFC on ESPN 43, where [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] picked up a big bantamweight win over [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag].

Elsewhere, many other MMA events are taking place, including Bellator and PFL kicking off their 2023 regular season. Those events, and others feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

This week, there are a total of 32 veterans of the global MMA leader competing in MMA and boxing this week from March 30-April 1.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

Brendan Loughnane hopes to avoid multiple rematches, wants ‘name value’ fights in 2023 PFL season

Brendan Loughnane hopes for fresh matchups against well-known opponents throughout the 2023 PFL regular season.

2022 PFL featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] is ready to get the new season started, and hopes he faces some new names on his path to becoming a two-time champion.

Loughnane (26-4 MMA, 8-1 PFL) starts his regular season run against Marlon Moraes in the main event of 2023 PFL 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. It’s a matchup that excites Loughnane, because Moraes is a new name on his resume, and one that fans recognize. Even though his division is filled will tough opponents from top to bottom, Loughnane doesn’t want to spend his entire year re-hashing his 2022 campaign.

“I think featherweight’s the most stacked. It was last year,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie Radio. “This year, I think they only signed two guys. … I would have been happy if they got a few more, to be honest. I don’t want to have a season of rematches. I really don’t, because I’ve beat (Ryoji) Kudo, I beat (Chris) Wade, I beat Bubba (Jenkins), beat Sheymon (Moraes)– like, I don’t really want to do that.

“I’d like to fight the newer guys. This year, I want name value. I don’t want to fight unknown guys with no following, but they’re dangerous. I’d rather have guys like Marlon who everybody knows, and they’re like, ‘Oh sh*t, he’s fighting Marlon.’ Rather than random guys.”

All things considered, last year couldn’t have gone better for Loughnane, who won four straight fights on the path to becoming champion. Kudo, Ago Huskic, Wade, and Jenkins were all turned away, making for a satisfying $1 million payday when it was all said and done.

But it wasn’t an easy journey. Loughnane had to push through multiple injuries to keep advancing closer to the championship, and dug deep to accomplish his goal.

“There’s not many champions that could say they went through what I went through to get the belt, there’s really not,” Loughnane said. “Every one of them four fights last year, I was injured – pretty badly as well. I had to push through them, because if you miss a date, you’re out. Like, if you’re a champion and you have an injury, you just phone up whatever organization and say, ‘Can you push it back two months?’ This has happened. Whereas if I phone up the PFL, you’re out the tournament.

“To get this belt, people have no idea, and I really like that PFL is growing now and they’re signing all these people from other organizations so they can realize.”

While Loughnane hopes to avoid a bunch of rematches this year, there is one in particular that Loughnane wants back more than anything else. The last time Loughnane left the PFL cage without his hand raised was against Movlid Khaybulaev. It was a heartbreaking split decision loss, which cost the England-born fighter a spot in the 2021 final, and also snapped his seven-fight winning streak.

“Obviously, we all know it’s no secret: I want to fight Movlid again, and I want to beat him over five rounds for the belt this year, and hopefully do it in Manchester,” Loughnane said. “Why not?”

Check out the full interview with Loughnane in the video below.

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MMA Junkie Radio #3347: Guest Brendan Loughnane, UFC San Antonio recap, ‘Cowboy’ HOF, more

Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”


Monday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.

On Episode 3,347, the fellas welcome in guest [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag], the reigning PFL lightweight season winner who returns at the PFL’s first event of the season Saturday. Plus, they look back at UFC on ESPN 43 in San Antonio and discuss the latest news from the UFC, Bellator, BKFC and more. Tune in!

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.

The interview part is being sent directly to Gabe to be included in the show.

2022 champs Brendan Loughnane, Rob Wilkinson headline 2023 PFL 1 on April 1

Two of the PFL’s 2022 season winners will take their first steps toward hope of a repeat in April.

Two of the PFL’s 2022 season winners will take their first steps toward hope of a repeat in April.

The promotion’s first event of the 2023 regular season is set for April 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels (the former Hard Rock Hotel Casino) in Las Vegas. Featherweights and light heavyweights will be on the card for their first matchups of the two-fight regular season. The event will have a main card on ESPN and ESPN Deportes following prelims on ESPN+.

[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4), the 2022 featherweight winner, will be at the top of the bill in a matchup against [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1), the PFL announced Thursday. In the co-feature, 2022 light heavyweight winner [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2) will take on [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11).

Other matchups on the main card include 2021 season winner [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag] (19-0-1) vs. [autotag]Ryoji Kudo[/autotag] (11-4-1) at featherweight; 2022 runner-up [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] (19-6) vs. former finalist [autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag] (22-8) at featherweight; and [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag] (24-8-1) vs. [autotag]Will Fleury[/autotag] (11-3) at light heavyweight.

“The 2023 PFL regular season is shaping up for our best season yet, and I’m excited to watch our featherweight and light heavyweight divisions compete on April 1,” PFL president Ray Sefo said in a news release. “From returning PFL world champions to league debuts from MMA stars, fight fans across the world are in for a treat starting with PFL 1 in Las Vegas.”

The PFL’s second and third events of the 2023 regular season take place April 7 and April 14 from Las Vegas, as well.

Loughnane knocked out Jenkins in the fourth round this past November to win the 2022 featherweight season. He beat Kudo and Ago Huskic in the regular season, then beat Wade in the postseason semifinals. He has won 11 of 12 overall, including his $1 million finish of Jenkins.

Moraes will be looking to turn his career around. The former UFC bantamweight lost a vacant title shot against Henry Cejudo in June 2019, but rebounded with a win over former UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo later that year. After that, though, it’s been a struggle. He was knocked out in four straight fights by Cory Sandhagen, Rob Font, Merab Dvalishvili and Song Yadong and found himself outside the UFC by mid-2022. In his PFL debut this past November in a move to featherweight, he was stopped in the third round by a Sheymon Moraes TKO in a showcase fight.

Wilkinson hasn’t lost in five years – and it happened to be the UFC debut of future middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who knocked him out in the second round in Wilkinson’s native Australia. Since then, Wilkinson has won six straight, including his first four in the PFL in 2022 on his way to a TKO over Akhmedov to win the light heavyweight title this past November. All four of his PFL wins came by knockout or TKO.

Santos, a former UFC title challenger, has dropped five of his past six starting with his 205-pound title shot against Jon Jones in July 2019, which he lost by split decision. After that, he lost to eventual champion Glover Teixeira, then Aleksandar Rakic. He rebounded with a win over Johnny Walker in October 2021 before a loss to Magomed Ankalaev in March 2022 and a fourth-round TKO setback to new champ Jamahal Hill in August 2022. His fight with Wilkinson will be his PFL debut after nearly 10 years and 24 fights with the UFC.

The 2023 PFL 1 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN)

  • Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes – featherweight regular season
  • Robert Wilkinson vs. Thiago Santos – light heavyweight regular season
  • Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Ryoji Kudo – featherweight regular season
  • Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade – featherweight regular season
  • Omari Akhmedov vs. Will Fleury – light heavyweight regular season

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)

  • Krzysztof Jotko vs. TBA – light heavyweight regular season
  • Mohammed Fakhreddine vs. Marthin Hamlet – light heavyweight regular season
  • Sam Kei vs. Josh Silveira – light heavyweight regular season
  • Alejandro Flores vs. Daniel Torres – featherweight regular season
  • Sung Bin Jo vs. TBA – featherweight regular season

PFL announces main and co-main events for first three 2023 regular season cards

Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes, Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Shane Burgos are among the big fights to open the 2023 PFL season.

The PFL on Thursday announced three headliners and three co-headlining fights for the first three events of the 2023 regular season, which will kick off April 1 and run for three consecutive weeks at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

At 2023 PFL 1 on April 1, reigning featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4) will headline against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1). The co-main event will feature another former UFC title challenger as [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11) takes on 2022 light heavyweight champion [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2). The first event of the year is set to air on ESPN.

PFL 2 will take place April 7, headlined by 2022 PFL heavyweight champion [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] (23-5) taking on UFC veteran [autotag]Yorgan De Castro[/autotag] (9-3). The night’s co-main event will feature reigning women’s lightweight champion [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (19-4)  taking on former Bellator champion [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-5) in the promotion’s new women’s featherweight division. PFL 2 is set to air on ESPN 2.

Closing out the first half of the regular season with PFL 3 on April 14, the event will be headlined by reigning lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] (17-5) welcoming UFC veteran [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] (15-3), who was supposed to make his promotional debut last November but withdrew due to injury. The co-main event will pit 2022 welterweight champion [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] (13-6-2) against [autotag]Jarrah Al-Silawi[/autotag] (18-4). PFL 3 will air on ESPN 2.

Despite the official announcements by PFL, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, which represents Burgos and Loughnane, indicated on Twitter that his fighters had yet to agree to their respective bouts.

The entire lineups for all three events will be announced at a later date.

As in years past, the champions of all six divisions following two regular season bouts and playoffs will claim the title and grand prize of $1 million.

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2022 PFL Championships medical suspensions: 10 fighters ruled out indefinitely

The 2022 PFL Championships took place Friday in New York, and all 24 fighters on the card received medical suspensions.

The 2022 PFL Championships took place this past Friday at Hulu Theatre in New York and featured six $1 million title fights among other bouts.

Atop the card was a shocking upset, with [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] defeating [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] to claim the women’s lightweight title. Other championship winners included [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag], [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag], [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag], [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag], and Rob [autotag]Wilkinson[/autotag].

On Monday, the New York State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, released medical suspension durations to MMA Junkie, which show all 24 combatants suspended at least one week – with two fighters out 90 days. MMA Fighting first reported the suspensions.

The NYSAC has a policy against revealing the fighters’ specific injuries to the public.

See below to find out the medical suspension durations for the 2022 PFL Championships combatants. It’s important to note that athletes are allowed to return prior to completion of the suspension if they are cleared earlier by a doctor.

Brendan Loughnane on PFL championship win: ‘I’m one of the best 145ers on planet earth’

Brendan Loughnane says PFL title proves he’s elite.

[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] achieved his dream of becoming PFL champion.

The veteran fighter won the PFL featherweight title and the $1 million prize after stopping Bubba Jenkins (19-6) in a fourth-round TKO on Friday night in New York at 2022 PFL Championships. Loughnane (26-4) envisioned this moment since he signed with the promotion in 2019.

“That’s why I was so emotional when I finished him, I was just like, ‘Wow, it’s over – the goal I’ve had,'” Loughnane told reporters at the post-fight press conference (via MMA Sucka). “I’ve had this up on my wall since I joined the PFL. That’s how serious I was about this sh*t. I didn’t come here to play around. You just watched a young lad achieve his dream.”

Loughnane is confident the victory cements him as one of the best featherweights today.

“There’s f*king plenty left in the tank,” Loughnane said. “What a performance, what a performance. It’s going to take someone very f*cking good to beat me. … Look what I just did to him. Let’s be honest about something here, I’m one of the best 145ers on planet earth in any organization.

“Anyone that thinks they can just come in and wrestle me and hold me down, good luck. And if you want to strike, good luck with that too.”

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Of course, it’s hard to forget the time Loughnane was on the verge of signing with the UFC. Loughnane competed on Dana White’s Contender Series and looked good, picking up a win over Bill Algeo in 2019.

Yet, UFC president Dana White criticized Loughnane for going for a takedown in the last seconds of the fight, and named that the main reason why Loughnane did not get a contract. Loughnane has little to say looking back at that moment in time.

“I remember an interview that was done like, ‘If I’m wrong about this kid, then show me.’ There you go. There you go,” Loughnane said. “What more can I say on that?”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Championships.

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2022 PFL Championships live and official results

Check out the results from the 2022 PFL Championships, where six $1 million champs will be crowned in New York.

The final event of the 2022 PFL season takes place on Friday at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York, and MMA Junkie will keep you updated with live results throughout the event.

The 2022 PFL Championships event features 12 fights, including all six divisional finals for a $1 million grand prize.

In the main event, undefeated two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] (15-0) goes for a title three-peat at women’s lightweight when she clashes with [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (18-4), whom Harrison has already defeated twice before.

The co-headliner will see [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (24-4) and [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] (19-5) clash for the featherweight championship, while elsewhere on the card [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] (9-3) makes her promotional debut vs. former Bellator titleholder [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-4) at women’s featherweight, plus much more.

Full results of 2022 PFL Championship include:

Brendan Loughnane takes out Bubba Jenkins to win 2022 PFL featherweight crown

At long last, Brendan Loughnane is a PFL $1 million champion after a fourth-round knockout of Bubba Jenkins in New York.

At long last, [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] is a PFL champion.

Loughnane (26-4) took out [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] (19-6) with a fourth-round TKO to win the PFL’s 2022 featherweight season and $1 million. Loughnane stopped Jenkins at the 2:38 mark of the round.

Loughnane used leg kicks throughout the fight to soften Jenkins up. His kicks to Jenkins’ increasingly compromised leg typically would be followed up by a quick punch combination. Loughnane especially dominated Jenkins in the second.

But in the fourth, Loughnane landed a straight right hand. Jenkins stumbled backward, and Loughnane kept the pressure on. With Jenkins against the fence, Loughnane landed punches and eventually a final knee.

Loughnane upset Chris Wade in the semifinals after a pair of regular season decisions to reach the final against Jenkins.

The 2022 PFL finals took place Friday at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Championships.

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