2022 PFL featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane 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.
