Caolan Loughran Fighting To Save His Job
It’s been somewhat of a tumultuous start to life inside the Octagon for UFC bantamweight Caolan Loughran (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC).
Ahead of his next fight at UFC London on March 22nd, Caolan Loughran, nicknamed “The Don,” has been discussing the importance of returning to winning ways after suffering the second defeat of his career last time out at UFC 304 in October.
“Big fight. Biggest fight of my life”, says the 28-year-old Irishman when asked about his upcoming fight against Nathan Fletcher. “I can’t go 1-3 in the UFC, we know what happens there and that’s what I’m focusing on”.
Last-Minute Changes Of Opponent For Caolan Loughran
Former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Caolan Loughran signed with the UFC in 2023 and was scheduled to make his debut in Paris against Yanis Ghemmouri. Weight- cutting issues on the Frenchman’s part saw that fight fall through at the 11th hour, with the experienced Taylor Lapilus replacing Ghemmouri to give Loughran a far tougher matchup.
After suffering a loss that night, Caolan Loughran bounced back to pick up an impressive win over Angel Pacheco next time out.
Disaster struck again at UFC 304 however, as his initial opponent Ramon Taveras was replaced late on by Jake Hadley.
Caolan Loughran suffered his second UFC defeat that night in Manchester and believes that run of events have taught him a valuable lesson about how he should prepare for fights in future.
“It’s weird”, Caolan Loughran ponders while speaking exclusively to MMA Sucka from the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. “You learn so much from these contests, so much from these fights, and you think you’ve worked it out and then something else happens and you cut a completely different approach.
“I always prepared quite specifically to my opponents and then two of the three (UFC) opponents pulled out. I think (Jake) Hadley was the Thursday before fight week, and the Taylor Lapilus fight the Tuesday of fight week. That throws all that out, you know what I mean?”
A Clash Of Two Cage Warriors Veterans in UFC London
Loughran’s opponent this time out, Nathan Fletcher (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) recently made his UFC debut after competing on season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter. The pair previously met as amateurs back in 2018 with the Englishman emerging victorious by unanimous decision.
Loughran also had a well-publicised spat with Fletcher’s team-mate Paddy Pimblett in the lead up to UFC 304, something the Tyrone native insists won’t affect his preparations for this bout.
“This time I don’t give a (censored) about Nathan Fletcher” stresses Loughran. “I don’t care. I don’t care about him, I don’t care about his team, I don’t care about the backstory that I’ve fought him, I don’t care what they’re going to bring up, talking shit.
“I don’t care about him, I don’t care about them, I don’t care about Paddy Pimblett, I don’t care about any of these guys. I have to win an MMA fight”.
“Has He Earned His Place In The UFC?”
Nathan Fletcher challenged for the Cage Warriors bantamweight title back in 2021 but ultimately came up short after being knocked out by Dominique Wooding. He rebounded to pick up two more wins inside the UK-based promotion before leaving to compete on The Ultimate Fighter in March of last year.
“Nathan is a good enough fighter”, admits Loughran. “If you want me to be brutally honest, I think he probably…has he really earned his place in the UFC? If I’m being brutally honest, I would say “probably not”. Is he a good enough fighter? Of course.
“He got knocked clean out fighting for the Cage Warriors title. He fought a guy (Dan Duijs) who people were making out to be a good grappler. I think Nathan literally mounted him and he threw a double jab-backhand at him from the bottom…that was literally his defense from mount.
“He then got on The Ultimate Fighter. He did get injured, but he got absolutely smoked. I was just talking to Diego Lopes (about it). He got destroyed on that. He fought this guy from Lithuania on like a ‘bye’ to get in (to the show), and now he’s here.
“He is a good fighter, he has got strengths, but if I’m being brutally honest, if I was outclassed by Nathan and I didn’t win, I don’t deserve to be sitting here in this Chuck Liddell Suite,” Caolan Loughran said. “I probably would shake Sean Shelby’s hand and say, “Here, I wasn’t good enough, I didn’t deserve it. I am very confident going in, I am moving differently than I was when I last fought, I’m sparring really, really good guys, doing very well”.
Caolan Loughran faces Nathan Fletcher at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Della Maddalena at London’s 02 Arena on March 22nd.