Tag: PFL news

Shane Burgos loves that he’s facing Olivier Aubin-Mercier to open 2023 PFL season: ‘It’s a title fight in my eyes’

Shane Burgos sees perks in drawing 2022 PFL lightweight winner Olivier Aubin-Mercier first to start the 2023 PFL season in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] sees perks in drawing 2022 PFL lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] first.

Burgos (15-3) will kick off the regular season against 2022 lightweight winner Aubin-Mercier (17-5) in the 2023 PFL 3 headliner Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

It’s a stern test for Burgos in his PFL debut, but the fan favorite explained why he prefers it this way.

“You can call him the former champion if you want, but I’m looking at him as  the current champion because he won the season and hasn’t lost,” Burgos told MMA Junkie Radio. “He’s on a six-fight win streak. Give me that guy right off the bat – why not? I’m fresh going into it. Give me that one right off the bat. It makes sense to me. I love it.

“People are saying, ‘Why didn’t they put you guys in two separate ends of the bracket?’ Who the f*ck cares? (Anthony) Pettis ended up fighting Stevie Ray twice. You’ve seen guys fight each other twice (in a PFL season), so after I beat him, we might fight again, honestly. I’m looking at it as a title fight. It’s a title fight in my eyes.”

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It’s taken a few UFC alums, including Aubin-Mercier, to get their feet wet before they’ve found success in the PFL. An ex-UFC fighter himself, Burgos will not only be competing in a new home, but in a new weight class after years at featherweight.

“It’s my first time at ’55. It’s my first time fighting in another organization in f*cking years,” Burgos said. “I had 11 pro fights in the UFC – almost my entire career – so I’m not looking at this like it’s going to be an easy run. And I’ve got the guy who won the tournament right off the bat. … For me, I’m looking at this like it’s the hardest fight of my career, and I’m going to treat every fight going forward as that.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL 3.

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.

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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