Brendan Loughnane is confident his game plan will prevail against Timur Khizriev.
Loughnane (30-5) takes on Khizriev (17-0) on Nov. 29 in the 2024 PFL Championship main event at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event streams on ESPN+.
Loughnane is no stranger to facing accomplished grapplers. He beat Chris Wade and NCAA Division 1 wrestler Bubba Jenkins back to back to win the 2022 PFL featherweight championship.
“Listen, he’s going to try to take me down,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie Radio. “We’re not beating around the bush here. You’ve got a Dagestani vs. an English striker. We all know what’s going to happen. Whoever can implement it will be the PFL world champion in 2024.
“It ain’t no different to 2022. Bubba Jenkins coming in, wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. Guess how many takedowns he got fellas? Zero. The fight before that, Chris Wade, another wrestler, guess how many takedowns he got? Zero. Don’t be surprised if this guy does not take me down.”
Loughnane looks forward to the challenge of becoming the first to beat Khizriev but thinks he’s untested. He said their strengths of schedule have been vastly different.
“I think he’s the one stepping up to that level,” Loughnane said of Khizriev. “If you look at our last 10 opponents, my level’s are way higher than his last 10 opponents. So, we don’t know how good he actually is yet, but we’ll find out.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.