MMA star Brendan Loughnane admits he had to pinch himself when he started training with Conor McGregor.
But before long he was on the receiving end of the UFC legend’s famous and powerful left hand.
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The two met in Dubai in November as McGregor prepared to return to the Octagon.
And Loughnane revealed that this would take a long time.
He said: “It was a bit of a pinch-me moment.
“It was crazy because when I went to commentate in Dublin we hadn’t met yet, I went to the Forge and we met.
“We were talking and I said, ‘It’s nice to finally meet you.’ And he said, ‘We’ve never met?’ He couldn’t believe it either.
“We were chatting on Instagram a while ago and I said, ‘When you come to Dubai, let’s train.’
“And he did, he texted me, we trained, I think, six weeks straight, sometimes at least five nights a week, sparring, training. And I really enjoyed it.”
Loughnane, 34, returns to the Octagon on Friday in Chicago, coincidentally against McGregor’s training partner Pedro Carvalho, 28.
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And he does this after being knocked out in his last fight, in June.
So Loughnane wanted to try McGregor’s feared left hand to give him some confidence.
Loughnane said: “Yes, yes! And I felt it a few times on my chin.
“And to be honest, I was checking my chin anyway because of my last fight and I thought, ‘I wonder if that chin still works.’
“And there’s nothing like a backhand from McGregor to see if it’s still happening and if we’re still OK.”
Loughnane in 2022 won the Professional Fighters League season at featherweight, earning the $1 million prize money.
But he was knocked out by 2023 winner Jesus Pinedo, 27, and failed to qualify for last year’s knockout stage.
That’s why he returns with full force this year in the season opener against Carvalho, trained by McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh.
And so Loughnane hopes to help McGregor, 35, in his return at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler, 37, set for June 29.
He said: “Obviously now I’m fighting one of John’s guys, it’s messed with the work of this camp a bit.
“But afterward, I would love to get into Chandler’s camp and be close to him in some way.”
How does PFL work?
The PFL is MMA’s only seasonal format, consisting of qualifying and knockout stages.
The stars of each division have two ‘regular season’ qualifying bouts, with points awarded by method of victory.
The top four teams advance to the playoffs, where the battle is to win or go home starting in the semi-finals.
It’s a final of fights where the title belt and the cash prize of US$1 million are at stake.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
