Brendan Loughnane has learned from mistakes made in the 2023 PFL regular season.
Against the odds, 2022 PFL featherweight champion Loughnane (28-5 MMA, 10-2 PFL) was knocked out of the 2023 playoffs by the eventual championship winner, Jesus Pinedo, and he wants to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
On the heels of a controversial stoppage of Pedro Carvalho in his first bout of the season that currently has him sitting atop the featherweight standings with six points, Loughnane is focused on staying locked in. While he’s in a good position now, he doesn’t want to experience a repeat of last season, where he found himself out of the PFL playoffs.
“Anything could happen right now,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie. “It was only me and (Gabriel) Braga are the only two with finishes. I don’t know how this thing is going to play out, but like last year, I think there was like a 10 percent chance that I couldn’t go through (to the playoffs) even if I lost, and it happened. So, again, lessons learned.”
Justin Gonzales will share the cage with Loughnane in the main event of 2024 PFL 6 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Every other featherweight on the card will be looking to secure their spot in the playoffs, and some, including Gonzales (14-4 MMA, 0-1 PFL) who will enter with zero points, need a first-round finish.
Loughnane is aware of what could happen but has vowed not to let lighting strike his playoff hopes twice. He says he has done everything properly in training camp and has stayed healthy. Now, it’s all about getting the job done inside the cage to reach the playoffs to chase another $1 million payday.
“I was in this same position last year and ended up getting knocked out,” Loughnane said. “I took my eye off the ball before I was already in the semis, so I’ll be making sure to not make that mistake again. I really, really learned from that experience, and I’ve definitely not took my foot off the pedal of the gas or my eye off the ball, so I’ve been looking forward to getting in there.”
