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Ryan Loco
Brendan Loughnane had a year away from fighting, but that doesn’t mean he took any days off.
The featherweight prospect, who signed with the PFL in 2019, was gearing up for a run at the season title when the promotion decided to cancel all events in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At the time, Loughnane was deep into training camp in Thailand. He had a choice to go home and sulk about the fight cancellations, or continue the hard work that made him a high-value acquisition following an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Welcome to year eight of the annual “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series, in which we’ll examine five MMA prospects per division the UFC should sign in the upcoming year.
This series started during my time as a writer for Bleacher Report, continued through my tenures at Today’s Knockout and FanSided, and now it stays alive another year here at Combat Press.
Let’s examine the featherweight division, a weight class that is loaded with good, young talent.
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In picking these prospects, I’ll try my hardest to stay away from fighters who are currently in top organizations, such as Bellator or the Professional Fighters League, but a couple may pop up. In the past, I’ve had some great picks on the list and some that haven’t worked out. Below are the previous year’s selections, followed by the five men the UFC should offer roster spots to in the coming year.