UFC bantamweight Caolan Loughran (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is feeling the pressure ahead of his bout against Nathan Fletcher (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC London this weekend.
The former Cage Warriors champion hasn't had the smoothest introduction to life in the UFC. Ahead of his Octagon debut against Yennis Ghemmouri in Paris in September 2023, a late-notice reshuffle saw him face a much tougher challenge in the experienced Taylor Lapilus, and he suffered the first defeat of his career as a result.
After securing his first UFC win against Angel Pacheco early in 2024, he again had to deal with a late opponent change at UFC 304 last summer when Jake Hadley stepped in to face him in Manchester. After taking another defeat that night, "The Don" heads into this weekend's contest in desperate need of a victory.
“Big fight. Biggest fight of my life”, the 28-year-old said when i spoke to him recently. “I can’t go 1-3 in the UFC, we know what happens there and that’s what I’m focusing on”.
Rekindling Old Rivalries
With his back against the wall heading into UFC London, Loughran could have done without the added pressure of facing an opponent he already shares history with. The two fought as amateurs back in 2018, with Fletcher outpointing Loughran on that occasion. The Tyrone native also had a well-publicized run-in with Fletcher's teammate Paddy Pimblett in the lead-up to UFC 304, and the bad blood has carried over into the comment sections of various social media posts lately.
“It’s weird”, Loughran pondered while speaking 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?”
“This time I don’t give a f*** about Nathan Fletcher” stressed 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”.
Loughran Brimming With Confidence Ahead Of UFC London
Nathan Fletcher appeared on season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter a year ago, losing in the opening round to Kaan Ofli. Nonetheless, he was handed a UFC debut in Septmber where he submitted Zygimantas Ramaska.
“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 (UFC featherweight) 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”.
