PFL featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane shares the challenges of the season-long format and his plan to face top opponents like Marlon Moraes in the upcoming 2023 season.
When Brendan Loughnane became the 2022 PFL featherweight champion, it was like a dream come true. However, his celebration was short-lived. The Contender Series veteran barely had a month off before starting his next training camp as the 2023 season loomed on the horizon. “You don’t get a chance to enjoy no belt,” Loughnane said. “This comes around so fast. So I won it on the 25th of November, I had December off with family and friends, January 5 I’m back in camp getting ready for the next season.”
Loughnane admitted that he dealt with several injuries during the 2022 season, but it did not stop him from capturing the 145-pound title. While he’s healthier heading into 2023, he contemplated not participating in his third consecutive PFL season, partly because of the mental and physical strain. Adding to the challenge, the PFL is planning to start a “super fight” division and expand onto pay-per-view after going behind a paywall for the promotion’s championship card which closed out 2022. Unfortunately, Loughnane said any ideas he had about potentially skipping out were immediately rebuffed by the PFL.
“I didn’t want to do the tournament again,” Loughnane revealed. “I was told that I had to do it. I was told, ‘This is what you’re doing, you don’t have an option. It’s tournament or nothing. It’s a tournament or sitting out for a year.’ So I had to really think about, do I want to sit a year out in my prime? No. Do I want to fight four times in seven months? No. So I had to come up with a happy medium like, OK, well, if you don’t do it, you’re going to lose a year in your prime.” Losing a year and a half through COVID left Loughnane at 26-4 as a pro, and he’s aiming to rack up another four wins this year to reach 30-4. These fights are coming thick and fast, adding more pressure to the athlete’s shoulders.
Regarding the future, Loughnane has yet to decide if the 2023 PFL season will be his last. Past champions such as Kayla Harrison have opted not to participate in the tournament, and this year is expected to be Olivier Aubin-Mercier’s final season after conquering the lightweight division in 2022. “I say yes [it will be my last year], and I say no at the same time,” Loughnane said. “It’s really difficult. It’s a grind. It’s really hard. It’s the hardest thing I’ve done. This thing is a whole different animal. It scares the f****** life out of me and that’s why I love doing it.”