Manchester's Brendan Loughnane earned just £150 for his MMA debut 14 years ago and he now has the chance to win PFL's illustrious $1m prize.
Loughnane, 32, competes for the PFL featherweight title this Friday in New York against friend turned rival Bubba Jenkins. Three years after he was snubbed of a UFC contract after winning his fight on the Contender Series, Loughnane has the chance to become a world champion after losing out to Movlid Khaybulaev in last year's PFL semi-finals.
The Mancunian made his MMA debut at the age of 18 after just three months of training, winning a decision against Luke Brown on a Clash of Warriors card in Nottingham. At the time, Loughnane was "over the moon" having been paid £150 for the fight and he splashed his winnings in a local casino with his friends.
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“I had six of my closest mates come down, I told them I was having an MMA fight and they were like ‘you what?’. That was 2008 and I’d be training for around three months, twice a week," Loughnane told Mirror Fighting . "I didn’t think I was ready but my coach Danny Ram obviously saw something that I didn’t.
“I went out celebrating, it was funny. I put some daft shirt on, I don’t know who I thought I was, we went to the casino in Nottingham. I got really drunk and fell over, in camp you don’t drink so at the after party you usually make a fool of yourself. At the time I was over the moon with £150 I was like ‘f****ng hell, nice one.’”
Loughnane picked up hard-fought wins against Ryoji Kudo and Ago Huskic earlier this year to qualify for the semi-finals against bitter rival Chris Wade, in which he put on a striking clinic to win by a one-sided decision. Loughnane and Jenkins have been on good terms throughout the season but the Brit has vowed to put their friendship aside and become a millionaire by winning the title.
“I’ve proper visualised it and I think about it every single day when I wake up and go to the gym, I just have the intention of getting that belt and the money because it’s what I deserve," he added. "The belt is a symbolisation of the hard work and the money is to secure my family’s future, so I’m torn on what I want more."
