PFL’s Caolan Loughran arrived hot off a win at UFC London, but was unable to keep that momentum going in his Dubai debut tonight.
The former UFC bantamweight defeated Nathan Fletcher to rub salt in the wounds of a disastrous night for Paddy Pimblett back in March at The O2. But he opted against signing a new contract with the sport’s top promotion, and made the rare move to the PFL a few weeks later.
Loughran agreed to a late opponent change from European champion Lewis McGrillen to fellow ex-Cage Warriors title holder Jack Cartwright. And it ended up coming back to bite him as he lost 29-28 across the judges’ scorecards.
Caolan Loughran loses to Jack Cartwright in PFL debut
After months of build-up and fanfare, Caolan Loughran finally made his debut in the Smart Cage on Friday night. Thousands packed into the Coca-Cola Arena early for the hastily arranged meeting between veterans of the British and Irish scene.
Cartwright started the brighter of the two, establishing his jab and refusing to allow Loughran into range for one of his signature takedowns. He busted the Irishman open with one particularly big jab in the first, and that injury continued to irritate the former UFC star.
Loughran managed to get Cartwright down in the latter part of the second, but didn’t do nearly enough with his two takedowns to warrant swinging the round. He dominated the third, but it was too little too late as he suffered his first defeat under the PFL banner.
Bad start for Ireland at PFL Dubai as John Mitchell suffers defeat on prelims
It was a poor night for the Irish in their undercard showings as Cork’s John Mitchell suffered a decision loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov protege Makkasharip Zaynukov in the second bout of the night.
The fight was close throughout, particularly in the first two as Mitchell did his best to stuff the takedown before succumbing in the third. But Paul Hughes might be left feeling he needs a finish after watching one judge outrageously score the fight 30-26 in favor of Zaynukov.
Two other judges scored it 29-28, giving Nurmagomedov a winning start to the night.