Atlantic City, NJ — Ahead of Caolan Loughran’s UFC debut last September in Paris, the Irish bantamweight talked a boatload of trash.
Mind games were in full effect in the build up to his bout with Taylor Lapilus, but after losing a decision, there was a very different Fight Week for Loughran (9-1) at UFC Atlantic City. Far fewer mind games, first and foremost.
“We played one mind game today, we stole his food out of the fridge,” Loughran said with a laugh, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press following a win over DWCS alum Angel Pacheco on Saturday. “But we didn’t care about that this time. I was here for the win, here for the victory. Of course, of course I want to be a f*cking star in the division, I want big fights, I want my name in Vegas. Of course I want all that. But without victory, that’s just bullsh*t talk of being delusional. So today was just say less, do more. Get in, get the f*cking win, lad.”
Loughran also addressed the mental toll the loss to Lapilis, the first of his pro career, took on him.
“I’ve been walking around in my own head a loser. I came in the UFC with a lot of hype, I’d never lost a professional round in my life. Not that ego is damaged, because I’m a realist, I know the game, I look at the guys I look up to, Dustin Poirier and stuff. They talk about the journey they’ve come through, and I really related to those guys, the Charles Do Bronxs.”
Both of those fighters, former interim champ Poirier and undisputed champ Charles Oliveira, have had plenty of setbacks.
“I like to talk a lot of sh*t, but Merab even, who went 0-2 and then came back. I drew a lot of inspiration from guys like that. So I’m just happy to get the win. He’s [Pacheco] a tough kid. 15 minutes inside the UFC octagon, it’s experience you literally can’t buy, you know?”
Loughran admitted that the main difference between fights was mental, he added. “Mentally, mentally mostly. I don’t care how many likes or views, say less do more, I just wanted the win. I wanted to win, and do what my coaches have put in, do what we’ve been drilling day in and day out.”
Watch the full UFC Atlantic City post-fight press conference with Caolan Loughran above.
