Irishman Caolan Loughran faced off against short notice contestant Jake Hadley in a bantamweight bout at UFC 304 in Manchester, England on Saturday.
Loughran lost his debut to highly-touted Taylor Lapulis but followed it up with a win against Angel Pacheco. He looked to get a winning record with the UFC by beating Hadley, a flyweight who decided to move up in weight and face Loughran when Ramon Taveras pulled out. In the second UK vs Ireland matchup on the card, the UK once again came out victorious as Hadley upset the strong favorite in Caolan Loughran.
Hadley drew first blood with a sharp 1-2, but Loughran ate it well and stalked forward. However Hadley stayed ahead and reddened Caolan’s face with those straight shots for most of the round. The Irishman only really had success in the final minute, landing his power hand a few times.
Jake Hadley got back to work in round two, throwing a higher volume and having faster hands than Loughran once again. Caolan landed a few good right hands two minutes in but showed no signs of the takedown that his corner had asked for. Hadley also continued to catch the stationary, large head of his foe. Finally with eighty seconds left in the round Loughran took down his foe but Hadley scrambled back up and escaped his clutches, even landing an elbow on the break. However, Jake did get taken down after that, but only for the final thirty seconds of a round he otherwise won.
Loughran’s coaches wanted him to take Hadley down, so he shot in the first thirty seconds, but got out-scrambled again. Back on the feet, the striking was fairly even. Being two rounds up, Hadley lowered his own volume and forced Caolan to come get him. After one particular clinch, Jake landed a monster elbow on the break, maybe even his best shot of the fight. Caolan had more success in the second half of the round while Hadley just circled on the outside, but it seemed far too little, far too late.
The judges gave Hadley his due, with two judges scoring every round for him and one judge giving him the first two. Breaking his losing run as an underdog up a weight class is incredible stuff. Jake Hadley bet on himself and won, so we will all look forward to seeing what he does next.
Official Result: Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
