Brendan
Loughnane is one who embraces the grind of the
Professional Fighters League season.
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The format isn’t for everyone, but the 34-year-old Manchester
native keeps coming back. He’ll begin his fourth season with the
promotion when he faces Pedro
Carvalho at
PFL 3 on Friday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
“I am a fighter to my core,” Loughnane said during a PFL media
event on Wednesday. “I love fighting. I love cutting weight. I
love, I love training. I love competition. iIt’s what gets me up in
the morning — it’s the spark, and that means more to me than money
or any belt.
“[It] gives me purpose, and I absolutely love this s—t. I choose to
do this. I made some good investments, now got a belt [but] I am
choosing to be here and still fight the best guys in the world in
the hardest tournament in the world because I love it.”
One thing that stands out among Loughnane’s comments is his
enjoyment of cutting weight, a process that is typically dreaded by
professional fighters. For Loughnane, it’s a matter of
perspective.
“I actually do love cutting weight. I’m gonna tell you why: Because
when I get close to a fight and the food and the water gets taken
away and everything, it makes you double hungry, double focused,”
he said. “ I feel like when you get to this close and all your
calories go down and stuff and you know there’s other people in the
world who don’t have food to hand all the time, you get a little
feeling of what it’s like to be hungry, and you’re like, what the
hell is going on? I know I know maybe I’m a bit lost in the head
with it, but I do enjoy it.”
After winning a PFL title at featherweight in 2022, Loughnane’s
2023 season ended in suprising fashion when he was knocked out by
eventual winner Jesus
Pinedo. It doesn’t currently appear that Loughnane will get to
avenge that defeat, because Pinedo is not part of the 145-pound
field this year. Pinedo was supposed to face Patricio
Freire at the PFL vs. Bellator event in February before
withdrawing from the card.
“I was wondering what actually happened with that,” Loughnane said
of Pinedo. “I was like, you know, he’s supposed to fight in Saudi,
then something happened and then I thought [he’d] be in a regular
season. I mean, I think the only guy to actually go through with it
all was Impa [Kasanganay]. Impa won the season, did Saudi and now
he’s back in the season. It’s gangster, it is really gangster what
Impa’s doing because it ain’t easy to fight straight after the
season and back in it. And that means he’s having to fight in a
regular season. You’re talking five or six competitions a year.
It’s absolutely insane.
“So I don’t blame Jesus
Pinedo for running off to Peru with a million dollars. Like,
who cares? Like, well done lad. He’s probably worth about 25
million over there, [isn’t he?]”
Because Loughnane enjoys all aspects of what he does, it makes it
easier to maintain a positive attitude.
“This is the life I choose. I choose to fight people. I choose to
train. If you don’t like it, go and get a job elsewhere,” he said.
“I’m sure there’s other things that people can do. What is the
point in being negative? Yeah, I’ve got to go and cut weight today,
but guess what? I’m going to get paid and I’m going to get to do
what I love and paint a picture. I think as myself as an artist and
on Friday night I get to paint another canvas.
“Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve had enough
fights now. Now I’m like I say, the most experienced in my
division. So I’m looking forward to just getting in there and
having fun. I enjoy fighting. I like it. I like the ups and downs
the struggles and everything that comes with it.”