MANCHESTER, England – Jake Hadley beat Caolan Loughran with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 304 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Take a look inside the fight with Hadley, who pulled off a short-notice upset to get back to .500 in the UFC.
Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran
Result: Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Updated records: Hadley (11-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC), Loughran (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
Key stats: Hadley stuffed seven of Loughran’s eight takedown attempts and outstruck him 107-68.
Hadley on the fight’s key moment
“I feel like my career was potentially on the line. I took a big risk stepping up on one week notice – no training camp or anything. Funny enough, actually, when I got the call, I was just about to eat my dessert. Then I get this call and it kind of made me a bit nervous. I’m like, ‘Bro, this guy’s is a big bantamweight. I’ve seen him kill guys. I’m actually a fan of his.’ When I felt them nerves, I knew: Yo, this is my time to go. You get me like this, first time I felt any sort of jitters since I was younger, and I knew it was time to fight.”
Hadley on Muhammad Mokaev
“I thought he was boring. He’s an idiot. He’s just trying to fight everyone in the back. He sucker punched Manel Kape and all these geezers. He’s a clown. He tried to start on me in the on the bus yesterday, but I’ll smash his head in, that idiot. If he wants to come up to 135 – I’d even go down back down to 125 just to smash his head in. He’s never wanted that fight in his life, but he’s higher up the ranking, so I can understand. But when we were both on the same ranking level, he never wanted the fight. He don’t want the fight – and I’d kill him.”
Hadley on what he wants next
“I stepped up on short notice, took this on a week’s notice. (I did) it for the UFC. I’ve had a bit of not a great run the last two, but I took this on short notice. All I ask for now is that they get me a fight again before the end of September.”
To hear more from Hadley, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.