Brendan Loughnane Realises His Dream, Becomes PFL Featherweight Champion – His Gruelling Journey

On Friday night, the UK were proud enough to crown yet another champion in a major organisation, as Manchester’s, Brendan Loughnane, defeated Bubba Jenkins, in the 2022 PFL World Championships.

Journeys don’t get much tougher, or as inspiring, as 32-year-old Loughnane’s, and the adversity he has had to overcome to reach this point is nothing short of spectacular. He has not only touched the hearts of the UK fanbase, but he has captivated the fans from across the pond, as his journey has been sealed with a $1 million pay cheque.

The tough as nails Manc has only been defeated once under the PFL banner, and that loss came last year in the 2021 Play-Offs. That loss though is nothing to be ashamed of, as it came to the 2021 winner, Movlid Khaybulaev. Even before that, Loughnane has had his fair share of disappointment, but that part of his career is in the past. He should be recognised for his tenacity and endless hard work, that of which has resulted in him becoming the first ever PFL British champion.

His gruelling 2022 journey began with a fight with Ryoji Kudo. After finding success on the Japanese MMA scene, Kudo made his move to the PFL this year and was instantly thrusted into the season format. Outings don’t get much tougher than Loughnane, and unfortunately for Kudo, it came in his PFL emergence. Loughnane came into the fight significantly compromised, and wore sleeves on both knees, further adding to his special story. That fight ended in unfortunate circumstances after an extremely competitive first 2 rounds, as in round 3, an accidental clash of heads deemed Kudo unable to continue, taking this fight to a technical decision. Fortunately for the Brit, he picked up 3 points winning the fight, and whilst his hand was raised, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

Loughnane was then matched up with American, Boston Salmon, for his second regular season bout. With Salmon having the reputation of being a brawler, this fight was almost guaranteed to be fireworks, despite the notorious quick turnaround of PFL regular season bouts. Unfortunately for both fighters, and fans for that matter, Salmon had to withdraw from the fight leaving Loughnane with a late opponent change. His journey hits another bump in the road, and one that he had no control in. Ago Huskic stepped up to the plate. Early in round 1, Loughnane was caught with a crisp 1-2, and his eye almost instantly shut. Another moment of adversity that he had to overcome. Once again, Loughnane showed his utter well-roundedness and tenacity, coming out of that fight with another 3 points.

He entered the Playoffs as seed 4 and was set to take on rival, Chris Wade. The two went back and fourth in the lead up to their grudge match, and sold their fight tremendously. It wasn’t for show, the two had a true hate for eachother. With Wade being such a prolific wrestler, Loughnane knew that it was something he had to be careful of, and if he could get through that threat, he would find himself on the verge of realising his dreams. What makes this emotional story even better, is that this fight took place in London, the first PFL event to hit the Big Smoke. The rivalry culminated in a perfect performance from Loughnane and he came out victorious, now just one step away from changing his life.

Polarly opposite to his rivalry with Wade, Loughnane was scheduled to fight Bubba Jenkins in the 2022 final. Loughnane and Jenkins had gone on record several times stating how much respect they had for eachother, with this fight just being business. Jenkins’ journey to the final was one that was extremely impressive, just like his counterparts. Once again, Loughnane knew he was going into a fight with a highly credentialed wrestler, and knew that would be the “Bad Man’s” game-plan to stop him winning the title.

Loughnane came into this final with an absolutely flawless. The signature stance-switching that we have came to recognise from him, didn’t allow Jenkins to make any reads on him, and also made it more difficult to get his timing down for his level changes. Whenever Jenkins did decide to level change, Loughnane completely stuffed it. Through 4 rounds, Jenkins didn’t complete a single takedown. Not only that, but Loughnane’s work on the lead leg of Jenkins caused him a bigger problem than not being able to implement his wrestling. Brendan’s striking was as crisp as striking comes, and his beating heart shone through.

Just over halfway through round 4, Loughnane’s dream became a very emotional and palpable reality. He did it, he became the 2022 PFL featherweight champion.

Loughnane joined fellow Brit, Leon Edwards, in becoming a new champion this year, after flying the flag for the UK for over 12 years in his professional career. Another true pioneer of British MMA, like his Manchester counterpart, Michael Bisping.

The tenacious and emotional journey will not end there though. After making the whole nation beam with pride, he has earned himself a well deserved break, and he will enjoy it by riding off into the sunset of Route 66, with those that are the closest to him.