Brendan Loughnane survives early scare to seal victory at PFL 2
British featherweight contender may not have been at his very best, but he didn't lose ground on his rivals as the PFL's featherweight season got underway in Arlington, Texas.
English featherweight contender Brendan Loughnane kicked off his 2022 PFL season with a win at PFL 2 in Arlington, Texas. But it was far from plain sailing for the Mancunian.
Loughnane was clipped and dropped in the first round of his regular-season bout with Japan's Ryoji Kudo, who followed up on his initial punch and looked to finish the Brit with ground strikes.
But Loughnane recovered well and found his rhythm in Round 2 before an accidental clash of heads brought the bout to a premature close with two minutes remaining in the third round.
The clash left Kudo unable to continue and, with the bout in the final frame at the time of the stoppage, the result went to the scorecards, with Loughnane earning a technical unanimous decision with scores of 29-28 on all three scorecards.
Speaking post-fight, Loughnane hinted at problems heading into the matchup, and admitted that he and his team were far from certain about the final result at the end of the bout.
"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 told 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 also admitted that he and his team were unsure about how the fight would be scored, but suggested that he was on his way to a late stoppage, regardless.
"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."
Loughnane joins fellow featherweight winners Sheymon Moraes, Chris Wade, Bubba Jenkins and Alejandro Flores on three points, with each of the aforementioned contenders picking up decision wins in their respective regular season bouts.
Moraes extended his win streak to three with victory over Boston Salmon, while Jenkins engaged in a back-and-forth war with Kyle Bochniak before coming through on the scorecards.
Last season's finalist Wade, meanwhile, handed former PFL champion Lance Palmer his third straight loss as he kicked off his campaign with an impressive win.
The night didn't go quite as well for the other Brit on the card, as Stuart Austin was finished by reigning PFL heavyweight champion Bruno Cappelozza in the main event.
Former BAMMA champion Austin succumbed to Cappelozza's strikes at the 4:24 mark of the opening round.
PFL 2: Official Results
MAIN CARD
Bruno Cappelozza def. Stuart Austin via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:24
Chris Wade def. Lance Palmer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Brendan Loughnane def. Ryoji Kudo via technical decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Renan Ferreira def. Jamelle Jones via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:25
Denis Goltsov def. Cody Goodale via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:20
PRELIMS
Ante Delija def. Matheus Scheffel via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:59
Bubba Jenkins def. Kyle Bochniak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Klidson Abreu def. Adam Keresh via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Sheymon Moraes def. Boston Salmon via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alejandro Flores def. Saba Bolaghi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)