Manchester — If nothing else, Caolan Loughran is extremely grateful to still have a fight at UFC 304.
Loughran (9-1) was supposed to fight Ramon Taveras at the event in Manchester, but with Taveras up, a familiar name in Jake Hadley stepped up.
“I’ve known Jake Hadley since, it must be 12 years now. From the amateur days, I’ve been watching him. We both came in winning the whole way up, both Cage Warriors champions,” Loughran told media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s media day.
“I’ve always respected his skill, and as soon as I heard his name, that gave me a lift. Anyone who’s been watching UK MMA for a while will tell you it’s a much better fight. He’s a bigger name obviously in the UK.”
Loughran gives plenty of credit to Hadley, normally a flyweight, for taking the fight, calling him a “skillful fighter” who “definitely poses threats,” but feels that with his opponent coming up from 125lbs, he’ll have a hard time.
“Absolutely respect him, fair play to him, but I think I’m going to run through him to be honest,” suggested Loughran.
Bantamweights like Raul Rosas Jr. and Payton Talbott get the lion’s share of the hype in the 135lb division these days, and Loughran knows it. He has them in his sights, though Talbott in particular might have a bit too much hype behind his name, according to Loughran.
“My plan was to call out Rosas as soon as this ended, seven weeks later, go back-to-back in The Sphere,” admitted Loughran, who no longer has that option with the youngster now booked. Still, Loughran cited Alex Pereira‘s recent quick turnaround as an inspiration.
“Payton Talbott is a good fighter, 100% a good fighter, fair play to him, going well, but Jesus Christ man, cool your jets.” For Loughran, fighters like Conor McGregor and Sean O’Malley attracted plenty of speculation on their rise up the ranks, including questions about how they’d fare against a wrestler.
Talbott has already faced one, and Caolan Loughran saw issues. “I watched his debut, f*cking, some lad, I don’t even know who the guys was, comes out, takes him down, takes the back, flattens him out, gasses. Comes out second round, gassed again, finds himself on his back. I’m like ‘jeez lad, you actually don’t know how, you’re giving your back every time.’ So he is a good fighter, 100% fair play to him.”
While willing to fight Talbott later this year, Loughran added “I think [he’s] getting a wee bit too much hype at the weight class. There’s definitely tougher fights at 135 for less hype.”
Watch the full UFC 304 media day appearance by Caolan Loughran above.
