Brendan Loughnane admits that his first opponent this season is a mystery man.
On the PFL 2 main card tonight, Loughnane (21-4) faces league newcomer Ryoji Kudo (10-2-1), an up-and-coming Japanese talent who has competed for the ONE Championship and Shooto promotions. Loughnane is making his second run at a championship and a $1,000,000 prize after a semifinal finish in last year’s featherweight tournament and while he’s confident in his chances, he isn’t quite sure what to make of Kudo.
” You probably know as much about me as you know,” Loughnane told MMA Fighting in an interview about his opponent. “I feel like I’ve ended up with a guy who’s coming in from Japan, 10 wins, eight knockouts, can throw hands fast. He’s not like Chris Wade or Bubba [Jenkins],, which we have seen many times at this level of fighting. You can get good readings about things.
“I have the wild card, so I’m ready for that. But I also need to be ready to face all nine of these guys .”
Last season, Loughnane entered as one of the most experienced featherweights on the roster after two previous non-tournament appearances for the PFL. He opened the season with a highlight-reel knockout of World Series of Fighting and UFC veteran Sheymon Moraes, then won a decision over Tyler Diamond, a competitor from The Ultimate Fighter 27, to earn a spot in the semifinals where he lost to eventual league champion Movlid Khaybulaev.
Loughnane is somewhat worried about
Kudo’s relative insignificance heading into the fight.
” I want big fights against large names,” Loughnane stated. “I was hoping that they would bring over some major landmark names like last year when I got Sheymon I was like, ‘Right, OK. Sheymon’s been in and around that top 15 of the UFC. He’s fought Zabit [Magomedsharipov] and he’s fought all these guys.’ So I was happy to get that name. Name value is important to me, but so is the skill level of the fighter.
“I haven’t even looked at the wildcard. It’s not something I like when the odds are in my favor. Sometimes it feels like, “You must go out and finish him,” but for all that we know, this man could become next f Conor McGregor. (laughs). You get what I’m referring to? We don’t know, we’ll see.”
Loughnane was also asked to give a rapid-fire assessment of the rest of the 2022 featherweight field:
2022 finalist Chris Wade?
“Beatable.”
Fellow 2022 semifinalist Bubba Jenkins?
“I like Bubba. I really do. He’s cool, I just saw him a minute ago. He’s always a good banger. I wish him the best.”
Sheymon Moraes?
“Sheymon, I’ve got a hell of a lot of respect for. Sheymon returned after the [to me] loss and won two more fights straight afterwards, so I have a lot respect for Sheymon .”
Two-time PFL champion Lance Palmer?
“Who knows what mind frame Lance Palmer is in? Last season he didn’t look very hungry but he might have gone back and reinvented himself so we might see a new one, let’s see. He and Wade are a fascinating fight .”
Are you sad that last season’s champion Movlid Khybulaev is unable to compete due to injury?
“I mean, yes and no. Yes because I want to make amends for my loss. But no because, now that I’m looking up at the newspaper, I know he won’t be here this year. Although I don’t think we are perfect, I do believe I can defeat all of them. They are too strong .”
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The rest of the field is comprised of recent UFC competitors Kyle Bochniak and Boston Salmon and two fighters competing in their first PFL season, Saba Bolaghi and Alejandro Flores. Loughnane doesn’t have any control over the match-ups he will make after Kudo, or his potential opponents in the postseason. That suits him perfectly.
“I’m ready for the nine other guys, like I said,” Loughnane stated. Every threat is different, so let’s get ready for chaos. Let’s have the violence and chaos
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