Jake Hadley and Caolan Laughlin at the UFC 304 weigh-in. Photo by Patrick McCauley/Cageside Press
Irishman Caolan Loughran faced off against last-minute recruit Jake Hadley in a bantamweight bout at UFC 304 on Saturday in Manchester, England.
Loughran lost his debut to the highly-touted Taylor Laprise, but then won against Angel Pacheco. He was looking to maintain his winning record at UFC when he defeated flyweight Hadley, who decided to move up a weight class to face Loughran after Ramon Taveras withdrew. In the second British vs. Irish bout on the card, Britain was victorious again as Hadley defeated the heavy favorite Caolan Loughran.
Hadlee opened the scoring with a sharp one-two which Loughran took well and pressed forward, but Hadlee maintained his lead and kept Caolan’s face red with straight shots for the majority of the round, with the Irishman only really getting going with a few power hand strikes in the final minute.
Jake Hadley started moving again in the second round, again landing more punches and faster than Laurent. Caolan landed a few right punches after two minutes, but showed no signs of the takedown his corner had called for. Hadley continued to get a hold of his motionless opponent’s big head. Finally, Laurent took him down with 80 seconds left in the round, but Hadley got to his feet and escaped Laurent’s grasp, even landing an elbow on his way out. However, Jake was taken down afterwards, but only in the final 30 seconds of the round, which he won.
Loughran’s coaches wanted him to beat Hadley, so he attacked in the first 30 seconds, but was again outgunned in a scramble. Back on their feet, the striking was pretty even. Hadley, who was leading for two rounds, lowered his voice and let Caolan launch the attack. After one clinch, Jake landed a monster elbow on the break, probably his best shot of the fight. Caolan had success in the second half of the round, with Hadley circling the outside, but it seemed too little, too late.
The judges gave Hadley the thumbs up, with two judges scoring every round in his favor and one judge scoring the first two rounds in his favor. It was great to see Hadley end his losing streak after being underdog in his weight class. Jake Hadley bet on himself and won, so we’re excited to see what he does next.
Official result: Jake Hadley defeats Caolan Loughran by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
