Issue 028
August 2007
New blood is what keeps the sport of mixed martial arts growing, and it is fighters like Greg Loughran who are the future.
The 23-year-old lightweight fighter from Antrim in Northern Ireland may be nervous about being interviewed, but he is calm and collected in the cage and is a well-rounded and dangerous fighter.
His overall record may stand at 19-14-0, but Loughran had his first fight at 17 years old (“I was thrown in at the deep end”) and has matured into a capable and entertaining fighter.
A joiner by trade, Loughran had an inauspicious start to his career as a fighter, losing all of his first five fights. Where some people would be tempted to quit, Greg plugged away at it to the point where he is now one of the most respected lightweights in all of Ireland. “I feel more confident in my training, everything’s coming together,” he says. A member of the UFR Fight Team, he has turned things around to the point where he has won his last six outings, and he attributes much of his success to his team and the support he gets from his coach Davey Patterson and his training partner Mickey Young. “Everybody’s developing together. We’ve got a pretty big team.”
Loughran is the kind of fighter who likes to stay busy. His last three fights took place in the space of six weeks. His most recent appearance was in Cage Rage Contenders in Ireland, where he defeated Owen Dempsey by armbar in the first round. Unbeknown to him until shortly before the fight, he was actually competing in a title shot eliminator, with the winner getting a chance at the Cage Rage lightweight title. “I was told about an hour before the fight that it was for a title shot. My coach wanted me to treat it like any other fight.”
By winning on the Contenders show, Loughran has earned himself a place on the main Cage Rage show, where he will take on UK lightweight champion Abdul Mohamed. The wrestler from Afghanistan may have the belt but he doesn’t worry Loughran. “He’s got a very good wrestling background, and I heard he knocked a fella out recently. He’s definitely my toughest test so far, but one I feel capable of. I think I’m capable of submitting him and I hit pretty hard.”
With the news that he has the biggest fight of his career coming up, he will be taking a hiatus until then to make sure he is fresh. In the meantime he will continue life at home (“I like to keep a low profile”), get on with his training and focus on the task at hand. When he enters the cage in September, he says the size of the event won’t bother him, and that he’ll be as calm as ever. “It’s just another fight. You’re fighting one person, not the crowd. That’s what motivates you.”
