After losing in the 2023 PFL playoffs, featherweight Brendan Loughnane took time off to heal and train with UFC superstar Conor McGregor in Dubai, and is now preparing for his fourth straight PFL season, starting with a fight against Pedro Carvalho.
Brendan Loughnane didn’t plan on losing to Jesus Pinedo in the 2023 PFL playoffs. But hey, he made the most of his unexpected downtime.
Three back-to-back season-long tournaments had kept him busy. Four bouts in 2022 alone, ending with a cool million-dollar grand prize. The guy needed a break.
Knocked out by Pinedo in June, he didn’t rush back. Instead, he took time to heal. Body, brain, and personal life, all had been on the back burner for too long.
“It was nice to have that break,” Loughnane confessed to MMA Fighting. “A breath of fresh air, really.”
He’d bought an apartment he hadn’t even seen. Friends and family? He hadn’t seen them in years. Places he wanted to travel to, improvements he wanted to make in his game. He took time off, healed, and didn’t spar for another four or five months.
He never completely ditched the gym. But he wasn’t training as intensely as during a PFL season. The break paid off, especially after a PFL event in Ireland. It ended with a pint at a local pub owned by UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
“I went to commentate PFL Dublin,” Loughnane recalled. “Had a pint at The Forge, told [McGregor], ‘When you’re in Dubai, let’s train.’ He said cool. Two months later, he’s in Dubai. He hit me up on Instagram, ‘Do you want to train tonight?’ About 9 p.m. ‘Do you want to do some rounds?'”
“Yep, straight to the gym. About four to six weeks, we trained a couple of times a week. Sparred a lot of rounds.”
Loughnane has trained with plenty of top fighters. But training with McGregor? That was something else. Both were preparing for comebacks. Loughnane was bouncing back from his first knockout loss, while McGregor was getting back into shape after a broken leg in 2021.
Training with McGregor was beneficial for Loughnane. He hopes McGregor felt the same.
“Amazing,” Loughnane said of the training sessions. “We were bouncing ideas off each other. I was like, ‘I hope he’s enjoying this, because I am.’ John Kavanagh said Conor was loving the training. That made me happy because I was enjoying it too.”
“We’re both pretty much semi-based in Dubai. Hopefully we can train again.”
McGregor has been itching to fight again. His next matchup against Michael Chandler was finally announced after UFC 300. Meanwhile, Loughnane kicks off his fourth straight PFL season on Friday against Pedro Carvalho.
When they were training together in Dubai, neither had a fight booked. But Loughnane saw enough to know “The Notorious” was back to full strength.
“Conor was growing with confidence with each session,” Loughnane said. “We both were. The sessions were getting better, more intense. We brought a few more guys in. They were getting very hard toward the end. Then I had to leave Dubai to start my training camp for April.”
“We were two world champions bouncing off each other, sharing ideas. I hope it comes back around again.”
Friday will be a bit awkward when Loughnane fights one of McGregor’s teammates, Carvalho. But Loughnane promises there’s no ill will. He’s looking forward to testing himself against Carvalho, hoping to cross paths with McGregor again in the future.
“John [Kavanagh] knows me very well, which is going to make this fight very interesting,” Loughnane said. “Pedro is another southpaw also. John is a very smart coach. I’d put him up there as the best coach in the world. His IQ is through the roof. I’ve got a lot of respect for John, Conor, and Pedro. This isn’t one of those fights where I’m going to sit and talk s***.”
“Hopefully when this fight is over, me and John can sink a few Guinness and see when we’re next training with Conor. See what happens.”