Brendan Loughnane setting out with PFL redemption on his mind

Brendan Loughnane will head into the 2024 PFL season with redemption on his mind, almost without question.

The 2022 PFL $1 million season winner got off to a brilliant start in 2023 when he set out to defend his title. But he was knocked out in the first round by eventual 2023 winner Jesus Pinedo and missed the postseason in a bit of a stunner.

Friday, Loughnane (27-5) takes on former Bellator standout Pedro Carvalho (13-8) to open the 2024 PFL featherweight season at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Pinedo isn’t part of the 2024 season, so the field is wide open for a new winner – and it includes some of those Bellator crossover fighters.

“I’m just glad that there’s some fresh faces in here, some big names and some fresh competition,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie Radio. “That’s all I care about right now. The fact that they used to come from Bellator, the fact that (my past wins over Sheymon Moraes and Tyler Diamond), some of them have come from the UFC, but I don’t start saying, ‘Oh, I beat three UFC guys.’ It is what it is. They’re now in the PFL. They’re in my home, so let’s see.”

Loughnane gets a tough test on paper. In November 2020, Carvalho took a six-fight winning streak into a Bellator title fight against Patricio Freire, considered the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in Bellator history.

That setback started a 2-5 current slump for him, though. But Loughnane isn’t looking at his recent struggles in a way that makes him think he’ll be taking on anything less than an elite featherweight.

“Pedro’s a world-class level fighter,” Loughnane said. “He comes from a great gym (at SBG Ireland). John Kavanagh’s one of the best coaches in the world. They’re going to have a solid game plan. John knows me very well, so I know they’re going to come prepared. I’m prepared, and we’ll have a beer after the fight. It’s just one of them nights at the office.”

Loughnane will be looking to pick up points in the regular season. A first-round finish is worth 6 points. A decision win is worth 3.

In 2023, the loss in his second fight in the regular season meant he had only 5 points from his second-round win Marlon Moraes. Had he gotten a finish in the first round, he’d have had 6 points – and could have moved on.

He thinks he let Moraes get by in the first round of that fight, and the lesson is that extra point in PFL’s system wound up being a costly one.

“I actually got a second-round TKO, and that was the problem,” Loughnane said. “It did teach me that I could have had Marlon out of there in the first, and don’t let people off the hook because that cost me a semifinal. Even though I lost (my second fight), I could have still been in the semis with one 6-point win and a loss.

“This is a different entity. But we have a 70 percent new roster this year. Let’s see how all these guys are coping September time and you’re on your third weight cut and you’ve got bumps and bruises from the other two fights.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 3.