Brendan Loughnane is now a millionaire as he beat Bubba Jenkins to win the PFL featherweight title and the promotion's illustrious seven-figure prize.
The British MMA star was competing for the chance to win $1million having previously came up short in last year's competition, losing to eventual winner Movlid Khaybulaev in the semi-finals. Loughnane had a phenomenal run on his road to the title, winning hard-fought decisions against Ryoji Kudo and Ago Huskic before qualifying for the final with a flawless win against bitter rival Chris Wade in August.
Loughnane started the fight by attacking Jenkins' lead leg with calf kicks as 'Bad Man' was looking to make use of his superior wresting by getting the Brit to the mat. Jenkins was mixing up his striking and wrestling well to prove he isn't a one dimensional fighter, hurting Loughnane with a right hook in the opening stanza.
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A groin strike briefly halted the action in the second round as Jenkins took some time to recovery following an illegal kick from Loughnane. The kicks of Loughnane were adding up and he steered the fight in his favour come the third round as Jenkins was unable to take him down.
'Bad Man' looked tired in the fourth round and he was unstable on his feet thanks to Loughnane's kicks, trying his best to take the fight to the ground. Loughnane dropped Jenkins with a perfect right hand and although he was able to get back to his feet after some follow-up ground and pound, the referee waved it off after Loughnane landed a well-placed knee.
Loughnane said after the win: "I really like this guy, it's unfortunate that we had to fight each other but I love this guy from the bottom of my heart I really do. Forgot the belt and the million, it's about the performance. That's two fights against high-level featherweights in which I haven't been taken down. I believe I'm one of the best featherweights on planet earth and that performance showed it tonight."
"This is a lifetime of dedication and hard work, I was never losing tonight. They could have put three of them in there . You could see by my energy in the fight, Bubba started fading in the fourth. This belt symbolises everything I've trained for, I'm a bit speechless to be honest. PFL picked me up at a time that my career was in the balance, now I'm 8-1 in the promotion and I've only lost to the former world champion."
