Caolan Loughran outlines his 2024 UFC plans as he aims to comeback from first loss

Last year saw a resurgence of Irish MMA fighters in the UFC, with one man from Tyrone standing out at 135 pounds.

It has been a turbulent 12 months for Caolan Loughran, who became the Cage Warriors bantamweight champion back in May, before being signed by the UFC.

For someone who loves the chaos that comes with fighting, his UFC debut was against French opposition in Paris, where he suffered his first professional loss to Taylor Lapilus.

Now preparing to face Angel Pacheco in Atlantic City on March 30th, Loughran spoke to Breakingnews about how preparations are going for the fight, and how his first loss affected him.

"It is going absolutely phenomenal, I was in Phoinex Arizona for the whole month of January. I was training with Henry Cejudo, who is fighting this weekend.

"He put me in an apartment out there, just up the road from his gym. I was training with those guys for three and a half weeks, just to mix it up with new guys, and get a feel with elite level UFC Bantamweights. I took a lot from that technically, but more so just confidence, to show where I am at and a great start to the camp.

"They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. I went training with Henry Cejudo, someone I looked up to big time, but I wasn't going there to make friends. I was going there for myself.

"In my opinion, I have the best coaches in the world. Tom Aspinall, who won a UFC title, took him from amateur. Darren Till who was in the UFC, took him from amateur.

"Over here in Liverpool, it just flicks a switch in my head for some reason. I just associate it with hard work and high-level MMA. When I am in camp, I am on it.

The confidence Loughran has is clear for all to see. Not being content