Brendan Loughnane continued his dominant PFL run with a knockout win against former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes.
Loughnane, who won the PFL featherweight title last year, was taking on Moraes in the opening round of the 2023 regular season in Las Vegas. Once snubbed by UFC president Dana White after his win on the Contender Series, the Mancunian was unbeaten in four fights heading into the event whilst Moraes had lost all five of his last fights by knockout.
Both men were gun-shy as the fight got underway with Loughnane picking away at Moraes' legs as the Brazilian was struggling to close the distance. Loughnane put together his best combination of the round by hurting Moraes with a head kick before dropping him with a leg kick. Moraes was saved by the bell as he struggled to stand on his own two feet at the end of the round.
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Moraes knew he didn't have much left and went for broke at the start of the second round which seemed to startle Loughnane. The Mancunian survived the brief onslaught and started to pick away at Moraes' legs again, which put the Brazilian down to the canvas. Moraes was unable to get back to his feet and referee Keith Peterson rightfully stopped the fight.
Loughnane, who scored five points with the second round finish, said after the fight: "I just wanted violence, I was sat in the back falling asleep watching the fights. I had to come out and save the day, that's what I did. I think my message was clear, my message is I am coming back for my belt. I don't believe in starting again, that was my first title defence."
In the co-main event, reigning light-heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson continued his impressive run with a hard-fought decision win against former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos. Ireland's Will Fluery looked to be on his way to defeat in his PFL debut, but fought back to win a decision against Krzysztof Jotko.
Movlid Khaybulaev, the only man to defeat Loughnane in the PFL, won a one-sided decision against Ryoji Kudo to earn himself three points. Another of Loughnane's former opponents in Bubba Jenkins, who was beaten by the Mancunian in last year's final, wrestled his way to victory against Chris Wade.
