Eliminated PFL champ Brendan Loughnane ready to fight on Jake Paul undercard - "You're going to get 100% more viewers"
Former PFL featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane recently claimed he wouldn't mind playing second fiddle to Jake Paul when the controversial influencer makes his MMA debut in the promotion.
While 'The Problem Child' has made his mark in the boxing world with wins over former MMA stars like Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Ben Askren since his debut in 2020, he shocked the combat sports community by declaring his transition to MMA and signing a multi-fight deal with the PFL in January this year.
The 26-year-old reportedly owns equity in the tournament-style promotion and will compete in the Super Fight division. The unique division will feature superstars like Francis Ngannou, Claressa Shields, and Kayla Harrison.
Given the immense star power of the Super Fight division, PFL featherweight Brendan Loughnane recently expressed his eagerness to compete in the undercard of Paul's MMA debut pay-per-view fight card.
In an interview with Mirror Fighting, Loughnane was asked if fighting on 'The Problem Child's undercard appealed to him, to which he replied:
"I would love to. I'm not into all this slating YouTubers... So what? Move with the times, all these people that get caught up like 'I'm not doing a Jake Paul undercard'. Why?" You're going to get 100 percent more viewers than you would have if you weren't on it."
Brendan Loughnane will have no problem fighting on Jake Paul's MMA debut undercard | @DonaghCorby_
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Jake Paul fight card: Brendan Loughnane reveals his dream opponent and future plans
In the same interview, former PFL champion Brendan Loughnane opened up about the possibility of PFL taking over Bellator and who he'd like to face if that happens. The PFL has been one of the world's fastest-rising MMA promotions and their tournament-style format appeals highly to many combat sports fans.
While there have been rumors of the PFL taking over Bellator, nothing has been confirmed. Loughnane is already looking forward to facing their featherweight champion Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire. He said:
"If Bellator's a real thing then why not fight Pitbull? I don't know, why not try and merge some belts, let's do something like that next year... If I were to think about next year, that would be an ideal scenario."
Jesus Pinedo recently defeated Brendan Loughnane in a fight for a spot in the 2023 playoffs at PFL 4 in Atlanta. Pinedo won the fight via a brutal first-round knockout.
'El Mudo' won a spot in the 2023 featherweight playoffs, and will face Bubba Jenkins next. Meanwhile, Loughnane will have to wait until next year to reclaim the featherweight championship.
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