How a pre-fight preview triggered Brendan Loughnane to have a standout finish at 2021 PFL 1

Brendan Loughnane came into 2021 PFL 1 with an extra chip on his shoulder.

Loughnane (20-3) earned six points in his first PFL regular-season appearance, when he knocked out Sheymon Moraes in the first round, the only finish of the night.

“Do you know how much of a weight is lifted off of my shoulders now to be the only finish of the night?” Loughnane asked MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s a massive lift off my shoulders. There’s a very, very high possibility now getting to the semis and the final, and that’s all that matters. That’s the goal.”

It was his first fight in 16 months, but that wasn’t the only motivating factor for Loughnane. He watched a pre-fight breakdown on his matchup with Moraes, which criticized his ability to put people away. Though Loughnane has an array of knockout wins on his resume, his past three wins had come via unanimous decision.

“I think you seen how emotional I got after the win, and I was just screaming,” Loughnane said. “What triggered that was I watched a breakdown that some guy did, and it was like a 12-minute breakdown on me and the fight, and the guy was like ‘We think Brendan will edge it out, but we know Brendan Loughnane is not going to finish anyone. He’s just going to get on the jab and do what Brendan Loughnane does.’

“I literally watched that the night before the fight and just got so mad. I went in with that kind of aggression. I was like f*ck this guy. I’m going to take this guy out, and it just triggered something inside of me. Something as small as that triggered some demon inside me, and moving forward, that’s exactly how I need to fight every one of these guys now.”

His performance put him at the top of the featherweight standings and Loughnane is already back in training in San Diego, where he’ll be staying stateside in preparation for his next fight.