PFL Season Two is getting underway in April, and the heavy hitters are coming in. The Professional Fighters League returns to ESPN this season and is looking to make a statement. On April 28 in Dallas, Texas, the PFL will be in town and bring some UK Flavor. One of the UK’s finest, Brendan Loughnane, returns, and the fans are eager to see what he has in store for 2022.
PFL has been incredible to Loughnane, as he is a combined 4-1 in the promotion. In a split decision effort, Loughnane was eliminated from last year’s PFL Championship race by eventual winner Movlid Khaybulaev. Ryoji Kudo, who is 7-1 in his last eight, welcomes Loughnane back.
Loughnane’s PFL Journey Thus Far
After defeating now-UFC fighter Bill Algeo, Brendan Loughnane first fought for the PFL in 2019. Just four months removed from DWCS, Brendan successfully made his PFL debut and defeated Matt Wagy. This was before Loughnane took out David Valente just two short months later and officially announced his presence.
2020 came and went without seeing anything from the Professional Fighters League, but it was just the calm before the storm. The 2021 PFL season featured standouts across the weight classes. Former UFC Champions Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis and Fabricio Werdum competed under the banner last year. As did former title contender Rory MacDonald and Judo Olympian Kayla Matthews. But the division of Brendan Loughnane may have been the toughest.
Movlid Khaybulaev, Bubba Jenkins, Brendan Loughnane and Chris Wade made up the playoff competitors. Among those not making the cut at Featherweight were Sheymon Moraes, Tyler Diamond, Bobby Moffett and even Lance Palmer. Featherweight was a murderer’s row for PFL, but Brendan was one of the favourites to win it all.
Brendan Loughnane and Bubba Jenkins
Over-shadowing the fights in a sense, Brendan was consistently jawing back-and-forth through the season with one fighter in particular. That fighter is “Bad Man” Bubba Jenkins, who is also with PFL this go-around. Bubba trains with Dewey Cooper, a former World Champion in Kickboxing, a World Championship winning boxing head coach, and has won the UFC Heavyweight Gold as a head coach with Francis Ngannou.
When Brendan Loughnane defeated Sheymon Moraes via knockout in the first round and got a decision over Tyler Diamond, it was clear he was a contender. The issue at hand now was that Bubba Jenkins was cemented himself as a contender as well. All of the fans’ eyes went to the thought of Brendan and Bubba squaring off.
The playoffs arrived. Brendan got matched with Khaybulaev and Bubba Jenkins with Chris Wade. Fans were hoping for Loughnane and Jenkins to walk into the finals against one another, but both bowed out in the semis instead. Jenkins fell to runner-up Chris Wade and Loughnane to the eventual winner Khaybulaev.
The hopes of those watching at home were dashed, but in 2022 we happen to see both men on the PFL roster once more. Could we finally get to see Loughnane vs Jenkins in PFL? We sure hope so, but the focus is on the task at hand for now. For now, the focus is on Ryoji Kudo.
Now: Brendan Loughnane vs Ryoji Kudo
When Brendan makes the walk-in in April, he does so with Ryoji Kudo in mind. Kudo is 7-1 in his last eight fights and can not be taken lightly. Brendan stands 7-1 in his past eight as well, and something has got to give. Neither man can afford to start the 2022 season with a defeat.
Kudo is a former title challenger in the well-respected Shooto Japan and appeared in ONE’s Warrior Series. He last fought for the vacant Shooto Featherweight Championship but fell short, dropping a decision.
Loughnane is coming off of the aforementioned loss to Khaybulaev in the PFL semifinals of last year and has appeared for the UFC, BAMMA, Contender Series, and PFL. Brendan expects to walk for the first time this year and make a statement. This could be the year Brendan nets a seven-figure paycheck for his efforts in the fight game. It all starts when Brendan Loughnane and Ryoji Kudo lock the cage door on April 28th in Dallas, Texas.
Follow me on Twitter at @Uncaged_Media, and follow us at Combat Sports UK for more exclusive content!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
