British mixed martial arts is experiencing a boom and it is emanating from one city in the North West of England, Manchester.
In the UFC, there is interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall who is on the brink of fighting one of the greatest of all time in Jon Jones, but he is not the only fighter from the famous city to be challenging for MMA gold.
This Friday, live on DAZN, featherweight Brendan Loughnane will be bidding to become a two-time PFL champion when he faces the unbeaten Timur Khizriev.
Loughnane is no stranger to the PFL tournament concept, fighting in the past four iterations and was crowned featherweight champion in 2022. However, if a fighter manages to reach the final in their weight class, it will result in four outings in the Smart Cage within 12 months which will no doubt have huge effects both physically and mentally.
For Loughnane, the PFL tournaments do not seem to have had any visible effect since making his debut if a recent social media post by the organisation is anything to go by.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News ahead of his showdown with Khizriev, Loughnane had one simple reason as to why a brutal tournament-after-tournament schedule does not appear to have made a mark.
“Do you know what’s been the biggest change? One was a millionaire, and one was skint,” Loughnane said before breaking out into a fit of laughter.
“I’m born for this, I love tournament fighting, I love regular competition and the PFL have given it me in abundance.”
Loughnane is someone who has fought tooth and claw to get recognition as a must-see talent in MMA. As is often the case, the UFC is seen as a promised land, but for the 34-year-old, several obstacles stood in his way which allowed the PFL to give the Mancunian the platform he needed to showcase his talents.
When the 2022 PFL featherweight champion started out in the sport, MMA in Britain was not the force it is today with a football cage in Fallowfield proving to be suitable place to start training.
This humble beginning is something which Loughnane does not take for granted and he makes no secret that his passion for the sport was what kept him living the life of a fighter before reaping the vast financial rewards that can be achieved with notable success.
“It wasn’t anything, it was the infancy of MMA,” Loughnane continued.
“I just ran with it, I really enjoyed it, I thought I’d just do this until the wheels fall off because it gets me up every morning with a purpose.
“I was doing it for a decade for free, it’s only the last three or four years I’ve been paid for it.”
The year 2021 was the first time Loughnane appeared in a PFL tournament, reaching the featherweight semi-finals. Then a year later he went one better, stopping Bubba Jenkins in the final to become the PFL’s featherweight champion and winner of $1 million.
It is often said someone can be at their most vulnerable when at the top, and that was the case for Loughnane who as defending champion in 2023, got knocked out by Jesus Pinedo bringing his title defence to an abrupt end.
Reflecting on the shock loss, Loughnane revealed the lack of time he had to celebrate contributed to his poor showing last year and he is now ready to set the record straight.
“I felt like I had so many things going on because I became a champion, I had come into this money, and a month later I’m training for another tournament. I just didn’t have time to enjoy the fruits of my labour,” Loughnane explained.
“It happened, I got knocked out, I had to have a word with myself, don’t forget I got knocked out with over a million dollars in my account. Why am I doing this? You have to really reassess what you’re doing at that point.
“I had to go back to the drawing board and start again, what a story this is going to be when I come back and win it all again this year.”
It’s safe to say in 2024 Loughnane has been making a statement in each of his three wins en-route to the final, with two of those coming via stoppage.
Speaking to Loughnane, there is a sense that this is a tournament he is enjoying participating in when he reflects on the campaign so far with a huge smile across his face.
“I think the one word I can use is ‘smooth’, no major injuries touch wood.
“Great performances, feeling great, happy all the way through it, easy weight cuts, it’s been a great year.”
For a fighter, this confidence and positivity can work both ways. On the one hand, it can be an unstoppable force, making easy work of whoever stands in the way, whilst on the other, complacency could set in and work to a detrimental effect.
Timur Khizriev will be no pushover in Riyadh on Friday night. He is undefeated in 17 fights and has shown that he can wrestle the life out of every fight in this year’s featherweight tournament.
Loughnane however has been there and done it when it comes to delivering in the fights that matter, and if he gets his hand raised once more with a second PFL belt around his waist, those days of being ‘skint’ will be nothing but a distant memory.
