LI's Chris Wade, Brendan Loughnane spar verbally before fight
Chris Wade needed a victory of any kind to earn enough points to qualify for the PFL playoffs for a fourth straight season. Credit: Cooper Neill
News from across the pond: Englishman Brendan Loughnane shows no signs of engaging in peaceful talks with his adversary.
“He walks forward, likes to block with his nose, I mean, come on,” Loughnane said on an intercontinental PFL playoffs conference call Tuesday.
In local news, Islip’s Chris Wade won’t broker an accord with the man he’ll face in the PFL semifinals on Aug. 20 in London.
“I block with my face?” Wade fired back. “Look at your nose. Who blocks with their face?”
“Bro, you literally use your chin as a defense,” Loughnane responded. “I've never seen anything like it.”
“Dude, you've been on the floor this season, like, on your back,” Wade said. “What are you talking about?”
And so went much of the conference call as Wade, the top-seeded featherweight, and Loughnane, the fourth seed, spent most of the time slinging non-positives at one another while the assembled media on the Zoom call turned their heads from side to side like it was Centre Court at Wimbledon.
“It's going to be a culmination of him being carried through the entire season,” Wade said. “Then to do it in his own backyard, it will just be an ‘I told you so.’ ”
It’s the first PFL event in London in its four-season history, and the fourth time Wade has reached the mixed martial arts league’s semifinals.
Wade (22-7) has looked more focused and locked in this season than at any point in his 12-year MMA career. Wade beat Lance Palmer, a two-time PFL champion, by unanimous decision in his first fight of the regular season. Wade then took out Kyle Bochniak with a first-round TKO, just the second such stoppage of his career.
“I feel this is the best that I've ever fought consistently,” Wade said. “Things just seem to be really clicking for me right now. I think it's just a combination of coming into my own, who I am as a fighter and believing in myself. That, combined with my physical abilities, it's showing right now and I'm thankful for it.”
Wade said there were times in his career where maybe his occupational morale wasn’t as high as it could have been. That, too, has changed.
“Now that passion is back,” Wade. “It's been back since my drop to 145. And I think that's what's reinvigorated me for sure.”
Loughnane (23-4) reached the PFL semifinals last season, losing a split decision to eventual champion Movlid Khaybulaev. This season, Loughnane won a technical decision over Ryoji Kudo and a unanimous decision over Ago Huskic.
“We both want the same thing, right?” Wade said. “We both want that belt. We want that strap. We're in each other's way. So you're damn right it's personal. I have a family over here. He has a family over there. He thinks he's the man and that he's the best. I disagree.”
Who’s right will be determined Aug. 20, with the winner advancing to the PFL Championship and its $1 million prize at the end of year.
But first, such a heated conference call couldn’t end without at least one more exchange.
“I've watched you take spinning hook kicks to the chin and walk forward, I’m like ‘Wow, is this guy a zombie or what?’ ” Loughnane said. “You’re just a zombie, bro.”
“I need to make you quit and give up,” Wade responded. “You're putting it to a point where I need to break your ego. You need to be broken. You really do. You got too much to say.”
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
