Ten months ago, when Brendan Loughnane was KO’d by Jesus Pinedo, the Manchester fighter felt strange.
During the first round of a featherweight contest against Peru’s Pinedo, Loughnane fell with a knee strike, ending his dreams of defending his 2022 Professional Fighters League title.
It was the first time in his 32-fight career that the 34-year-old had been stopped.
“It was really hard. It was really hard. And it was completely foreign to me as well. I had never experienced anything like that and I’ve been through a lot in this sport. ‘, Loughnane told BBC Sport.
“It’s a very unreal feeling and it’s so weird and strange that I can’t really explain it. I’ve been hurt a few times, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never had anything like that.”
It was five months later that Loughnane started to feel like his old self again, which came at the hands of Conor McGregor during a training session in Dubai.
“It took me a while to get over that, but the reason I got over it was when I started sparring with McGregor, we started sparring really hard,” Loughnane said.
“Then I realized, ‘Oh, my jaw is still working. Great! Let’s go.'”
On Friday at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, Loughnane will begin his quest to reclaim the PFL featherweight title when he faces Portugal’s Pedro Carvalho, McGregor’s training partner in Dublin, in the season opener.
“He’s a great guy [McGregor], I loved the round. And I’m actually fighting one of his teammates in this fight. So I don’t know, but I’m looking forward to finishing this fight,” Loughnane said.
“I really enjoyed the training and I think he enjoyed it too. I’m looking forward to doing another round.”
A win would put Loughnane in a good position to qualify for the play-offs from their group in time for the PFL Finals at the end of the year.
