Brendan Loughnane is one step away from winning PFL's illustrious $1million prize as he outpointed bitter rival Chris Wade in London.
Loughnane, 32, was looking to secure himself a spot in the finals after coming up short to Movlid Khaybulaev in the semi-finals of last year's campaign. The Mancunian banked himself a spot in this year's playoffs with hard-fought wins against Ago Huskic and Ryoji Kudo in his qualifying fights.
There was little action to the start of the grudge fight as the pair sussed other out on the feet. Wade secured the first takedown fo the fight but didn't land anything of note on the ground, with Loughnane eventually getting back to his feet and landing the best strikes of the first round.
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Loughnane was getting some good shots off at the start of the second round but Wade was putting together some good combinations on the feet. Wade staggered the Brit with a big leg kick as neither man showed any willingness to take the fight to the mat. Loughnane ended the round on top by forcing Wade on the backfoot with a flurry of punches.
Wade needed a strong final round to having any chance of steering the fight in his favour, but it was Loughnane who continued to land the better shots as Wade started to get desperate. Loughnane continued to push the pace on Wade in the dying moments with all three judges seeing it 30-27 in his favour after the final bell. Loughnane said of his win: "I forgot how good I am sometimes. Tonight was not about the belt or the money, I just wanted to prove to myself that I still had it and I did that."
Loughnane will now face Bubba Jenkins for the $1million prize at 145lb. Jenkins secured himself in a place in the final by submitting Ryoji Kudo before Loughnane's win. Jenkins tossed Kudo around with some highlight-reel suplexes at the start of the fight before eventually taking his opponent's back and sinking in the rear-naked choke.
Also on the London card, light-heavyweight standout Simeon Powell picked up a win in his hometown as he left Joao Paulo Fagundes unable to get back to his feet with a series of vicious leg kicks. Dakota Ditcheva's PFL debut lasted less than a minute as she stopped Hassna Gaber with a knee to quality for the inaugural season of PFL Europe next year.
