Brendan Loughnane was made to work for his technical decision victory last night at PLF 2, facing some early adversity in the bout.
Last night in Arlington, Texas, Loughnane began his 2022 season with a win and three points on the board. Despite the win, the Mancunian didn’t have the fight all his way.
For the first time in 14-years, Loughnane was dropped inside the Octagon. Japanese native Ryoji Kudo dealt Loughnane an early scare in the first round. Kudo followed Loughnane to the mat looking for the kill, but the Englishman stayed calm among the fire.
Having time to clear his head, Loughnane found his groove in round two. Unfortunately, both men clashed heads accidentally, and the contest was brought to an end due to the cut Kudo had suffered. With Kudo unable to continue, the result fell into the judge’s hands. All three judges scored the bout (29-28), giving a technical decision to Loughnane.
In his post-fight interview, Loughnane expressed he wasn’t confident that the result would fall in his favour.
Brendan Loughnane Post Fight Interview
“That’s the first time in 14 years of mixed martial arts that I’ve been put on the canvas, so fair play to Ryoji Kudo,” he said to Sean O’Connell.
“I need to watch the fight back, but a lot of mistakes and we’ll just learn from this and come forward.
“There was a lot of stuff going into this fight, that I won’t go into. Who doesn’t have stuff going into a fight?”
Loughnane followed it up by stating he was confident he was on his way to earning a stoppage late in the third:
“Do you know what? I could be winning a round, hands-down, and not know,” he said.
“I don’t know. I’m so in the moment, I don’t know what’s going on (with the scoring). That’s why at the end I’m asking my corner what’s going on. They’re like, ‘We don’t know, either.’
“So this is all down to discrepancies, down to judges, but all three seemed to give it to me. I felt the fight fading away from Kudo. I could hear him breathing very heavy. I got a good couple of takedowns in the last round, and I really believe I would have gone on to finish it in the third.”
Fight Highlights
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Featured image credits to (Cooper Neill / PFL)
