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Exclusive – Caolan Loughran bolted from Atlantic City after first UFC win: ‘It’s not the best place in the world’

Caolan Loughran got out of Atlantic City as fast as possible following his first UFC victory After a rough go in his UFC debut, Irish standout Caolan Loughran is ready to make it two-in-a-row inside…

After a rough go in his UFC debut, Irish standout Caolan Loughran is ready to make it two-in-a-row inside the Octagon.

‘The Don’ was dealt the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career at UFC Paris last year, suffering a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Taylor Lapilus. Six months later, he bounced back with a win over Angel Pacheco in Atlantic City, securing his first victory inside the Octagon and moving his overall record to 9-1.

Speaking with Jordan Wright in a LowKick MMA exclusive interview, Loughran revealed that taking his first loss was more of a relief than anything, but he’s ready to continue his climb up the bantamweight ladder at UFC 304 on July 27.

“At the time it was just relief after I took my first professional loss,” Loughran said. “When you win, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m the f*cking man.’ Honestly, you’re just thinking, ‘Thank f*ck’ and then move forward, but once you get a new fight signed and you look to move up in the division, it’s very quickly back to business. But I’m feeling really good and I’m well prepared for this one.”

Caolan Loughran was not a fan of Atlantic City

Asked if he spent any time celebrating his first UFC win in Atlantic City, Loughran made his feelings about the ‘Vegas of the East Coast’ pretty clear.

“Truth be told, Atlantic City is a sh*thole,” Loughran added. “Not much goes on. We had planned to spend the next day in AC, but very quickly realized it’s not the best place in the world so the next day we all got up and left straight to New York. That was the plan anyway, but we were going to go on Monday. So me, my brother, my sister, and my woman all went up there.

… It was really nice. We got to take it [all] in. That’s the best thing about fighting. Bringing people on the trips and the experiences that come with it, like traveling the world and fighting in the UFC. It’s unbelievable.”

Fortunately, Loughran won’t have to make another 3,000-mile trek to a “sh*thole” for his next fight. On July 27, ‘The Don’ will head to Manchester for a clash with Ramon Taveras, a 10-2 fighter who, like Loughran, will be looking for win number two on MMA’s biggest stage.

Watch the full exclusive interview with Caolan Loughran below:

After a series of brutal fight-altering eye pokes in Atlantic City, is the UFC finally changing its gloves?

After another fight card with eye pokes aplenty, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship ready to make a change? As…

After another fight card with eye pokes aplenty, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship ready to make a change?

As pointed out by John Morgan on X, the promotion is scheduled to deliver a “New UFC Equipment Announcement and Presentation” on Friday at noon PDT. Fans immediately flocked to the comments, hoping that this meant the Las Vegas-based company would unveil a new glove design to help address the UFC’s eye-poke epidemic.

UFC Equipment Announcement related to eye pokes

Amy Kaplan of FanSided MMA also revealed on X that the announcement will be a “UFC Glove Launch” following the official weigh-ins for UFC 300, which goes down this Saturday night, April 13.

“There will be a “New UFC Glove Launch presentation” on Friday after the official weigh-ins,” Kaplan’s post reads. “It’s unclear if this will be special branded gloved for the event or actually a new design of the gloves.”

As Kaplan explains, this could be nothing more than the presentation of a glove featuring a unique logo to celebrate the promotion’s landmark event this weekend.

Two Fights end as the result of eye pokes in the UFC’s return to Atlantic City

Returning to the Octagon at UFC Atlantic City on March 30, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman climbed back into the win column for the first time since 2020. Unfortunately, the victory was mired in controversy after a slow-motion replay revealed that the ‘All American’ had poked his opponent, Bruno Silva, in the eye not once, but twice during the fight-ending sequence. Still, Weidman walked away with the win, first by TKO before being switched to a unanimous decision.

Moments before, Nursulton Ruziboev claimed his 10th-straight win with a TKO over Sedriques Dumas. However, Dumas appeared to get poked in the eye at one point and immediately protested. The referee allowed the fight to continue as he did not see the eye poke occur in real time. Moments later, Riziboev pummeled Dumas against the fence, forcing the stoppage and claiming what would be one of two incredibly controversial wins on the night.

Chris Weidman continues to defend his double eye-poke victory over Bruno Silva: ‘MMA is a tough sport’

After scoring a controversial victory at UFC Atlantic City, Chris Weidman thinks Bruno Silva needs to quit crying and…

After scoring a controversial victory at UFC Atlantic City, Chris Weidman thinks Bruno Silva needs to quit crying and suck it up.

Weidman’s return to the win column in The Garden State sent fight fans into a frenzy on Saturday night (March 30). Sadly, his first win since 2020 was mired in controversy. Nearing the halfway point of the third round, Weidman appeared to land a check left hook that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas. However, a slow-motion instant replay revealed that Weidman poked Silva in the eye not once, but twice while failing to connect with the legal strike.

The action was allowed to play out and initially announced as a TKO victory in favor of Weidman. Moments later, Brendan Fitzgerald revealed during the broadcast that the fight was officially stopped at the point of the two fouls and the contest was scored up to that point with Weidman winning on all three scorecards.

Addressing the incident during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Weidman seemingly placed blame on Silva and even questioned whether or not his opponent was ever actually poked in the eye.

“You’re gonna get poked in the eye,” Weidman said. “There’s gonna be things that happen. You can’t just drop to the ground, turn around, and expect the ref to know what’s going on in your head and that he’s seeing everything. It’s just a bad habit and bad things happen when you do that. That’s kinda what he got in the habit of. Anytime his eyeball got touched, he dropped to the ground and was crying.

“Obviously, I don’t want to poke him in the eye, but I just also think, what are we turning this into? MMA is a tough sport. Get the ref’s attention. Let them know you got poked in the eye. But dropping and trying to get all this time. Going back to the reply, it’s like, did he really even get poked in the eye? I don’t know. I just think it’s a bad precedent.”

Unfortunately for Weidman, the double eye-poke during the fight-ending sequence was undeniably present. Still, ‘All American’ walked away with a win. Silva has already declared his intent to dispute it with the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, hoping to have the decision reversed and ruled a no-contest.

Of course, Weidman wasn’t the only one committing eye pokes during the contentious clash. He later shared a grotesque image of his right eye looking disgustingly bloodshot — the result of an eye poke he absorbed during their fight.

Chris Weidman vs. Bruno Silva wasn’t the only fight decided by eye pokes at UFC Atlantic City

Before Chris Weidman and Bruno Silva stepped inside the Octagon, another eye-poke controversy went down during a main card scrap between Nursulton Ruziboev and Sedriques Dumas. Nearing the two-minute mark of the opening round, Ruziboev appeared to poke Dumas in the eye during a striking exchange

Dumas protested once realizing what happened. The referee allowed the action to continue and Ruziboev took advantage of the situation, bum-rushing his opponent and punching his way to a ninth-straight first-round finish.

Nursulton Ruziboev wins in round 1 after an apparent eye poke led to the finish. #UFCAtlanticCity pic.twitter.com/hM63KaC9Ap

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 31, 2024

Is it time for the UFC to finally do something about the epidemic of eye pokes occurring inside the Octagon?

Conor McGregor picks a fight with UFC newcomer who shares his name: ‘I am the only Conor in the UFC’

Irish megastar Conor McGregor doesn’t like the idea of sharing his namesake with another fighter. On Saturday night, McGregor…

Irish megastar Conor McGregor doesn’t like the idea of sharing his namesake with another fighter.

On Saturday night, McGregor went on another eyebrow-raising rant on X regarding UFC debutant Connor Matthews, who made his promotional debut inside Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Fans got their first glimpse of Matthews on an August 2022 episode of Dana White’s Contender Series where he had come up short against Francis Marshall. A year later, he returned to DWCS and earned his way into the UFC with a unanimous decision win over Jair Farias.

Stepping inside the Octagon against Dennis Buzukja, Matthews failed to make it back-to-back wins, suffering a brutal third-round knockout just 33 seconds into the round.

Dennis Buzukja knocks out Connor Matthews!! pic.twitter.com/AbXl5KUYvm

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 31, 2024

McGregor, who was watching and posting, was unusually enamored with Connor Matthews.

“Who the f*ck is this “Conor Matthews” guy? McGregor wrote in the first of multipe since-deleted tweets. “I am the only Conor in the @UFC”

The Irishman didn’t stop there. He followed up his initial post with a few more, saying: “Conor Matthews you taking everything I worked for motherf*cker.”

“Connor Matthews is with the cartel? wft here we go again hahahaha southpaw as well he is.

“I have decided to change Connor Matthews name to Matthew Connors. To save confusion.”

UFC Fans React to Conor McGregor’s latest rant

As expected, fans were quick to comment on McGregor’s confusing commentary toward the UFC newcomer, with one suggesting that the Irishman “lay down the coke.” Another asked, “Is this guy bothering you, Conor?” while a third user took a dig at the former two-division champion, writing: “You’re in the UFC still? I Haven’t seen you fight in like half a decade.”

Conor McGregor warned leg injury will haunt him in UFC comeback fight this summer: ‘There’s a psychological effect’

Former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor has been warned of the “psychological effect” his leg fracture suffered three years ago…

Former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor has been warned of the “psychological effect” his leg fracture suffered three years ago will have on him – as well as haunt him in his expected return to the Octagon later this summer, by fellow ex-UFC champion, Chris Weidman.

Weidman, a former undisputed middleweight gold holder, himself turned in a dubious and controversial unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva on the main card of UFC Atlantic City overnight, suffering a devastating compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula back in a 2021 loss to Uriah Hall.

Chris Weidman shuts down retirement talk after his #UFCAtlanticCity win.

"I still think I have it. So, until I don’t think I have it anymore, I’m here." pic.twitter.com/8FHNpLmF01

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 31, 2024

As for McGregor, the Dubliner has been sidelined since 2021 to boot akin to Weidman, himself fracturing his left tibia and fibula in a second round doctor’s stoppage TKO defeat to former interim champion, Dustin Poirier.

Chris Weidman issues advice to Conor McGregor

And expected to take on Michael Chandler this summer in a return to the Octagon, Crumlin striker, McGregor has been warned that his prior leg injury will likely haunt him in his return to the sport by Weidman, who himself suffered injuries in his own return against Brad Tavares last summer.

Brendan Schaub claims Conor McGregor is the most underpaid UFC fighter of all time — Mandatory Credit: Samir Hussein

“I know he (Conor McGregor) watched my fight,” Chris Weidman told MMA Fighting during a recent interview. “I think he probably learned a lot watching my fight (against Brad Tavares). Some of the red flags of what to be prepared for, for whoever he fights, and also maybe you’re not going to be able to throw back as much as you want. Or now, be prepared that could be something you have to deal with, so really train on kicking back.”

Conor McGregor Joe Rogan UFC 264 Zuffa LLC

“You want that to be second nature when you’re in there,” Weidman explained. “For me, I thought I was good with that, but I wasn’t. I would have really worked at it more and realize there is a psychological effect when you break your leg in half like that. So, you need to really get that habit back strong and focus on that. I don’t really thinking I need to say much. He should just watch my last fight and learn from that.” (H/T BJPENN.com)

Do you expect to see Conor McGregor fight this summer?

Chris Weidman defends UFC Atlantic City win over Bruno Silva despite eye pokes: ‘He was looking for a way out’

Scoring his first victory in almost four years last night on the main card of UFC Atlantic City, former…

Scoring his first victory in almost four years last night on the main card of UFC Atlantic City, former undisputed middleweight champion, Chris Weidman has defended his unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva – after landing multiple eye pokes ahead of the finishing sequence, suggesting the Brazilian was looking for “a way out” of their clash.

Weidman, a former undisputed middleweight titleholder, made his return to the Octagon for the first time since 2021 last August, dropping a decision loss to Brad Tavares in his first outing since he suffered a catastrophic compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula.

Landing a slew of inadvertent eye pokes in the second round against Silva last night, which required a stoppage in the action and a subsequent time out, Weidman then appeared to drop the former midway through the third round on the feet.

Chris Weidman Bruno Silva UFC Atlantic City

Scoring a TKO victory over the Brazilian, Baldwin veteran, Weidman was confirmed as the bout winner via that exact method, before use of the replay following the stoppage saw the result overturned to an egregious decision win for the New Yorker, despite landing at least two eye pokes ahead of the finish.

Chris Weidman defends win over Bruno Silva in controversial victory

Defending his victory over Silva, Serra-Longo MMA staple, Weidman speculated that the former was likely looking for a way out of the main card bout at the time of the ending, anyway.

“You’ve got to be always ready, ready to defend yourself at all times,” Chris Weidman told assembled media after his UFC Atlantic City win. “He (Bruno Silva) dropped again. I don’t know – it was like, he was looking for a way out. I don’t know. You can’t just turn your back and fall to the ground every time that your eyeball feels poked.”

Weighing up the option of retiring prior to his return to New Jersey last night, off the back of his victory, former middleweight champion, Weidman has since insisted he has no intentions to hang up his gloves after his win over Silva.

What’s next for Chris Weidman after UFC Atlantic City?