BRENDAN LOUGHNANE is through to the Professional Fighters League’s dramatic $1million winner-take-all final.
The Manchester featherweight beat bitter rival Chris Wade in the semi-final at the Copper Box over three rounds.
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He now faces another American in Bubba Jenkins, 34, where a win earns him the PFL title belt and life-changing $1m prize cheque.
Loughnane told Mike Owens Media: “This is probably the best opponent that I’ve beat.
“That should put me right up there in the world rankings. It was just about belief tonight.
“In the last two fights, I don’t know who that guy was in there, and I started to think, ‘F***ing hell, have I lost it? Who is that guy?’
“And I come out with a world’s best performance, the best performance of my life. I’m so happy.”
The PFL is MMA’s only league format, which consists of qualification and knockout rounds.
Stars in each weight have two playoff bouts, where points are earned per method of victory.
The top four then progress into the playoffs, which are made up of a semis and final.
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Loughnane, 32, and Wade, 34, took bad blood into the grudge match and came face-to-face at SunSport’s HQ.
But it is Wade who travels back to America having conceded bragging rights.
Loughnane said: “I actually didn’t like Chris Wade, (but) he’s got to go back to his family.
“The fight is done now, and I actually feel sorry for him now, seeing how upset he was.
“He’s a world-class fighter and unfortunately one of us had to lose.”
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