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Brendan Loughnane Excited Ahead of Pro Debut
20 Jun 2010
By Dean Parr
This Saturday night, Moss Side Ground and Pound's Brendan Loughane will make his Professional debut in Cumbria at X-Treme Combat 2, as he takes on Jordan Desborough (1-0) in a three round affair. Loughnane can't wait to step into the cage.
"I'm really looking forward to it, especially considering I'm finally going to have my Pro debut," he noted. "Everything's gone fine. I fought three weeks ago so I was in shape, and I've just not stopped training really. I've come back off that, had two or three days off, then got right back into training."
For some, the transition from the unpaid ranks to the Professional game could be daunting, but Bren is certain he has the tools necessary for full MMA.
"When I was fighting at Clash of Warriors, the rules were basically the same as Pro, apart from there were no elbows and there's going to be an extra round," he revealed. "They actually have head shots on the ground, and one of the shows I fought on in Doncaster had elbows at Semi Pro and three five-minute rounds.
"Different organisations have different rules, and you can get so close to Pro now that there's not much difference between Semi Pro and Pro, apart from the level of fighters. We train hard at Moss Side anyway and do a lot of ground and pound, so that wont be an issue at all. I think I'm really more suited to Pro, and I was ready to turn Pro earlier this year, but that fell through. I'm definitely ready for Pro."
Indeed, the Mancunian was meant to partake on the UCC MMA 'Blitz at the Ritz' show earlier this year as a Professional, but he had to withdraw from that contest.
"I cracked one of my ribs before that fight, but that's healed now and it's all fine," stated Bren. "I'm on holiday for the UCC as well; that's why I took this fight, but for the one after I'd really like to be on it. I know the promoter Danny [Hornsby] pretty well, so I should definitely be on the next one after this."
Opposing Loughnane next Saturday will be the aforementioned Jordan Desborough, who trains out of Stuart Hall Vale Tudo. Bren admits information is scarce on his future foe. "I know nothing about him; I can't find anything. He's young and hungry though like myself. I think we both have a lot to lose, and that the winner's going to go up to the next stage."
However, this hasn't stopped the Lightweight from working hard in the gym in the run-up to this. "I've trained a lot of cardio for this fight with it being Pro and three rounds," he stated. "I usually try to get them over as quick as possible, but obviously on the Pro circuit, the challenges are a lot better, so you have to train for three rounds. I'll come out fast though as I usually do, and he can stand it, we'll go the three rounds, but if not, then it'll be a short night."
For those who haven't seen him fight, Bren described his all-action style. "I'm fast, explosive and come ready to fight," he warned. "I never back down from a fight when I get in. I'm going for them and it's kill or be killed. I prefer to stand and bang and I've only ever been to the floor once in a fight, but I was comfortable and submitted the guy so I don't mind being there at all."
In recent times, Loughnane has emerged as something of a prospect, and he is insistent that he's determined to go as far as he can in MMA. He said,
"I never really took it seriously until about six or seven months ago when I thought that I could maybe do something with it, so now I'm just training hard and trying to live up to my potential. I've been doing it for about three and a half years.
"I'd done nothing at all before that; it's just I knew Danny [Ram] the head coach at Moss Side when I was about 8 stone, and he told me to come down to do a bit of training. I just loved it from there. 95% of people will never go back to an MMA gym, and it's a strange breed the 5% that go back, but I loved it."
Bren is similarly convinced that Moss Side Ground and Pound is an excellent place to train. "We've got some good guys there," he opined. "We have Ali Arish (4-0), Chris Ram (5-3) and a few good Pros. There's really good sparring at the minute because there's a show in Manchester at 'The Ritz' coming up which a few of the lads are on, so everyone's in the gym ready to fight."
Now most the hard training is out of the way, Loughnane must deliver the goods this Saturday, something he reckons he's more than capable of doing.
"I want to go out there and finish him quickly; it's going to be impressive," promised the prospect. "I know it's his hometown and he's going to have a lot of people there, but I can deal with that pressure; I've had that before and come out on top, so let's hope I can get in there, finish it as quickly as possible and then start preparing for the next guy."
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