If it could go wrong, IT WENT WRONG! $1M PFL Winner! Podcast w/Brendan Loughnane

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:09:11
Matt Haycox
You mentioned relationships. You know, you say it put strain on my relationship, and it’s hurt lots of things. I put a post on TikTok recently. I think the title was If You Get Married, You’re Fucking Mad. And...

00:00:09:28 - 00:00:10:07
Brendan Loughnane
Oh god, here we go

00:00:10:07 - 00:00:11:13

Go on, elaborate

00:00:11:26 - 00:00:25:25
Matt Haycox
But it was obviously just a catchy title to talk about the fact that I have either say have the right partner or have no partner. Right. If you've just had a Barney with the missus, you know, an hour before the fight, or if you've got serious problems in your relationship, you know, for weeks leading up to the fight.

00:00:26:13 - 00:00:28:00
Matt Haycox
And how the fuck do you get that out of your head?

00:00:28:13 - 00:00:33:03
Brendan Loughnane
Well, I've always said a happy fight as a dangerous fighter. My coach always told me that and when you're happy, dangerous.

00:00:37:24 - 00:01:00:23
Matt Haycox
Guys, Matt Haycox here. And welcome to another episode of the Matt Haycox Show, where today I have a very special but repeat guest. I think.. I actually think it's the... it's only the second time I've ever repeated a guest but I've got with me now PFL million dollar winning world champion Brendan Loughnane. I couldn't say the last time you were here could I? It was about to be million dollar winner.

00:01:00:28 - 00:01:17:18
Matt Haycox
But no, guys, if you have not listened or watched any of this before, I'll tell you a quick bit about Brendan in a minute but most of you will have seen this or you'll know Brendan from his social's where we were talking back in April, I think it was back in April and Brendan was just about to go into fight camp in Thailand for a month or so.

00:01:17:26 - 00:01:18:10
Matt Haycox
Yeah, that's right isn’t it?

00:01:18:11 - 00:01:20:14
Brendan Loughnane
Was that the first fight or was it last year we spoke?

00:01:20:23 - 00:01:22:14
Matt Haycox
No, no. Well it was, it was last year.

00:01:22:14 - 00:01:23:02
Brendan Loughnane
Last season.

00:01:23:13 - 00:01:25:00
Matt Haycox
No, it was this season but last year, yeah.

00:01:25:02 - 00:01:25:12
Brendan Loughnane
Okay.

00:01:25:12 - 00:01:47:05
Matt Haycox
April 2022 where he’d just, he’d just finished training in Dubai. He was about to go and do a month or so fight camp in Dubai - sorry, in Thailand - and then go and start the first of four fights on the journey to being a $1,000,000 champ. Yep. And we talked a lot about, I guess, about discipline and the effort and the work that, you know, Brendan's put in as a fighter.

00:01:47:09 - 00:02:03:16
Matt Haycox
I mean, not just for this fight, but, you know, over his whole career and when he won, which I guess was.. I said it was no, no surprise to any of us. It was no surprise knowing you. But anything can go wrong in those fights can’t it? And it was obviously still a touch and go battle along the way.

00:02:03:16 - 00:02:07:04
Matt Haycox
Think we’ve got to sit down and talk about what the last four months have been like.

00:02:07:14 - 00:02:11:10
Brendan Loughnane
Well, yeah, First of all, it's great to be back. It's great to be back on the show.

00:02:11:16 - 00:02:13:00
Matt Haycox
He's smiling like a millionaire.

00:02:13:00 - 00:02:28:13
Brendan Loughnane
I can't take the smile off my face. How, you know what I mean, it's just like last time we was here, we talked about should I, could I, what if? And now I’m sat here with the job done, it's a double edged sword, really, because it's like, Yeah, it's great. But now what's the next goal? Do you know what I mean, that's what I've been dealing with the last couple of days.

00:02:28:13 - 00:02:55:15
Matt Haycox
So I mean, we'll go back I guess we'll go back in a minute and talk about, I guess, what happened over the last four months. But I mean, question for me, when you won that mill and when you won that fight, because obviously it's something you've been working towards your whole life. I mean, was there any anti-climax in any way and I'll set the scene up because I always talk about it from a business perspective where, you know, people are always striving for material things.

00:02:55:15 - 00:03:12:18
Matt Haycox
It's like, I want the Ferrari, I want this, I want the other. And I know myself from having had these things that as soon as you get them, you actually don't give a fuck. Because if all you really interested in is the Ferrari, then you'll never be happy or interested in anything. And it's actually you know, the journey of making the money.

00:03:12:24 - 00:03:23:18
Matt Haycox
And I've, I've had so many cars where I try and get them, I get them. I drive them twice, and they sit in the drive, and I can’t wait to get rid of the fucking things. Now, obviously, you know, you want your million, but was it all it's cracked up to be?

00:03:23:25 - 00:03:40:07
Brendan Loughnane
Well I’ve been asked this question a lot now it’s like what was worth more, the belt or the dough? And I mean first of all I did the post-fight press conference and they asked it when it was just fresh. And my initial response was it wasn't either of them, it was the performance, like as a martial artist, because that's what I am

00:03:40:23 - 00:04:05:06
Brendan Loughnane
to the core, it was like the money didn’t matter, the belt didn’t matter at that moment, what actually mattered was I managed to negate one of the best wrestlers in America and show the world how great my skills are rather than.. the reward that came with the belt. Obviously down the line now we was talking just before I'm about to go on close on my dream property and the stuff that's come with the money has obviously been extra special.

00:04:05:06 - 00:04:20:19
Brendan Loughnane
So it's balancing out now. First of all it was the performance, then it was putting my legacy in Manchester as the only guy to ever do it, and now it's spending the money and investing it wisely. And I wouldn't say moving on to the next phase of my life because I’m not done with fighting, but certainly looking at the other side of it now.

00:04:21:24 - 00:04:37:05
Matt Haycox
So I guess, yeah, in a different world you’re saying the same, same as what I'm saying. Obviously the money was important because, you know, you want it for your stability, for your family, for you, you know, for your future and stuff. But, you know, that's just, that's setting you up, you know, whether it's fighting to go back to or whether it's something else, you're ready,

00:04:37:09 - 00:04:38:10
Matt Haycox
you're ready for the next challenge.

00:04:38:19 - 00:05:01:15
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah. No, listen, I've got a mind coach, I want to shout out Bruce here, because we worked for the last two fights and they were the two best performances of my career. And he really helped me with mindset. And I think it's what, we’re six weeks post fight now. And I've been dealing with a bit of like... it's been an anticlimax now. It went from the highest highs to what next?

00:05:01:27 - 00:05:23:12
Brendan Loughnane
So we actually had a discussion a couple of days ago and he was like, ‘I've been waiting for this call’, he said. I knew you was going to call me about this because I'm like, ‘Well, did it fill the gap?’, You know what I mean, so he said, ‘Here's what we're going to do. We're going to sit down, we're going to write ten more things down, and we're going to start attacking them’, because it is the pursuit mate and this is me saying it after just winning it.

00:05:23:19 - 00:05:39:22
Brendan Loughnane
So imagine like... I remember when Tyson Fury won all the belts and won everything was to win and went into a 3 year depression. And when - couldn't get him off the couch and he was drinking every day. I thought, what is he doing? Do you what I mean, he's just everything he wanted. But I felt a bit of what he actually felt like.

00:05:40:12 - 00:05:50:00
Brendan Loughnane
You get there, they pass you this big piece of gold, they pass you this check, and you just sort of look the other way to go. What now? So that's kind of what I'm on now, ready to go again now, whatever it may be.

00:05:50:01 - 00:06:07:04
Matt Haycox
Well, look, before we talk about what you going to do next, and let's rewind back to April, May. So you just seen me. I think we filmed that podcast, you missed the roast because you weren't allowed to eat. You were getting grumpy, being around the smell of Yorkshire puddings. And then you went off to Thailand.

00:06:07:04 - 00:06:18:21
Matt Haycox
So I guess, you know, we don't need blow by blow over the five or six months. But just talk me through some of the things that really stick in your mind about, about, you know, getting ready for training, problems that happened along the way because you had a couple of injuries as well didn’t you?

00:06:18:21 - 00:06:38:18
Brendan Loughnane
So yeah, let's rewind back to that podcast. I actually did this tournament last year for the people that don't know and came up short in the semifinal. I broke my hand in the second fight of the season and then had to fight with the broken hand in the third fight, which is insane. And then I lost to this undefeated Russian guy, no shame in that, he was a great fighter.

00:06:38:23 - 00:07:01:21
Brendan Loughnane
And then had to lick my wounds, go back to the drawing board and start again. And that's when we did the podcast. And now, fast forward another year. It was terrifying me thinking, I have to do that again. It's four fights, it's seven months. It's a marathon. It's not a sprint. And first fight of the season, I fought this Japanese guy who’s relatively unknown, but very dangerous and had a great training camp.

00:07:01:21 - 00:07:18:14
Brendan Loughnane
And then 12 days out, last training session before I left, I tore my MCL. Freak accident in the gym. It was a grade 2 tear and realistically I shouldn't have fought. But, it was like PFL said, ‘if you miss this fight, you're out the whole tournament’, and you know, I'd would’ve had to wait till next year again.

00:07:18:16 - 00:07:21:23
Matt Haycox
Do you tell people about these injuries so you have to keep it yourself at the time?

00:07:22:12 - 00:07:25:26
Brendan Loughnane
Super secret. Like it's had to be kept well under wraps.

00:07:26:04 - 00:07:40:23
Matt Haycox
I actually remember you know, you were back in town for about two or three days and me and you went on a... we were cycling next to each other with bicycles and someone was taking a video of us and you had all your leg taped up. You're like, ‘Oh, we can't post a video because I don't want anyone to know I've got a bad leg’.

00:07:40:23 - 00:07:43:25
Matt Haycox
Literally. Because the other fighter would just take advantage of it.

00:07:43:25 - 00:08:06:08
Brendan Loughnane
He'd just kick it and then what would I do? You know what I mean, so what we actually did was - this is first time I’ve told this story as well, people don't really know this - and then I came back to Dubai to get the proper treatment because in Thailand the physio was no good and I got.. I had Danny, Ellie and the boys there. So I came back and they was helping me out with it and, and then I flew to the States and then there was a really good doctor over there, Camille.

00:08:06:28 - 00:08:23:27
Brendan Loughnane
She treated me every day for ten days. But really, there's nothing you can do. Time is the only thing that can heal an MCL. She actually came to the fight and taped it all up. For me, it was like... it was like cement. She taped it that hard. Basically, my knee was just stuck, I couldn't bend and it was just stuck like this.

00:08:23:27 - 00:08:40:08
Brendan Loughnane
So I got it at this angle like that, and it just got cemented like that. So if you see the fight, I was just hobbling along in the fight really. oh really? yeah, it was that bad. And then yeah, managed to get the win in that one and then yeah, it was, it was one of them seasons mate.

00:08:40:08 - 00:08:43:10
Brendan Loughnane
Where if it could go wrong, it went wrong up until it didn't.

00:08:43:17 - 00:08:47:03
Matt Haycox
So your first fight was in America. Yeah. You're second fight...

00:08:47:11 - 00:08:48:26
Brendan Loughnane
America - also in America - Texas.

00:08:48:26 - 00:08:50:07
Matt Haycox
And I came to the third one.

00:08:50:15 - 00:08:54:17
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah. Tell me about your experience mate, of your first MMA fight where you know someone

00:08:54:25 - 00:08:58:24
Matt Haycox
So - have I ever been to an MMA fight before? You had your own show!

00:08:59:03 - 00:09:06:07

Oh, f*ck of course! Yeah, I did

00:09:06:07 - 00:09:23:24
Matt Haycox
There’s a story for another day. I think I've probably been to a couple of UFC type fights in Vegas, but I've never. I mean, obviously they’re kind of interesting to watch for me, but never can you get like, emotionally attached. But I mean, that's just me about sports in general, you know, I guess you see your normal football fans, and everyone going crazy.

00:09:24:04 - 00:09:42:09
Matt Haycox
It just doesn't really interest me. But I was obviously super excited. It was in England. Yeah. You were fighting. It was. I mean, not only was it you, I feel like I've been so long on the journey with you. We'd lived together for a few months, you know, and I knew how much the money meant, you know, you, your family and everything like that.

00:09:42:09 - 00:09:45:22
Matt Haycox
So I was very, very invested. And I stuck 10 grand on the fight.

00:09:46:01 - 00:09:49:00
Brendan Loughnane
Lovely! Lovely! And I was 3-1 wasn’t I? What did you get it at?

00:09:49:16 - 00:09:51:26
Matt Haycox
Just shy of that. Think I got two and a half, two six.

00:09:52:04 - 00:09:52:17

Nice.

00:09:53:19 - 00:10:14:05
Matt Haycox
So I was super excited, super, super invested. And yeah, I mean, like, I can't - I can't explain how excited I was, but I think... but more, more excited for you. Yeah. You know, we talk about the money and stuff, you know, I wasn't bothered for the money. I wasn’t bothered for it, but I want, I wanted you guys - I was gonna be so, so disappointed it for you.

00:10:14:11 - 00:10:28:15
Matt Haycox
Because I know how much work you put in. But I have to say, I think I said it to you at the time as well. Your other opponent because, you know, normally you look at other people. I hate on that guy. You know, Brendan's my guy, but I'm thinking, F*cking hell. If I didn't know Brendan, if I was ever going to support anyone in the PFL, that Chris Wade.

00:10:28:15 - 00:10:28:29

Do you like him yeah?

00:10:28:29 - 00:10:29:21
Matt Haycox
I just think

00:10:30:00 - 00:10:31:06

I just think

00:10:31:16 - 00:10:36:16
Matt Haycox
I feel bad saying it now. like, he was such a good looking c*nt as well, I mean, like.

00:10:36:16 - 00:10:37:00

You know, like.

00:10:38:13 - 00:10:41:28
Matt Haycox
He walks out. He looks... It looks like he's walked out of Top Gun or something.

00:10:41:28 - 00:10:42:23
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah. It does, doesn’t he?

00:10:43:03 - 00:11:01:00
Matt Haycox
I mean, he doesn’t look like he's ever, ever had - ever had a hit or a slap on him. His face is in perfect position. He's nice. He's talkative. He's chatty and he, he looked for quite a bit the fight as well. He made it look quite easy. Yeah. And he, he's obviously fighting another country where the entire room was against him.

00:11:01:00 - 00:11:10:27
Matt Haycox
I mean, the entire one. And then you and him would also had a bit of a verbal sparring before it started. So I'm thinking it's impossible to hate on the guy. I've got to hate him. I mean.

00:11:11:05 - 00:11:12:11

I mean.

00:11:12:11 - 00:11:35:15
Matt Haycox
I’m here for Brendan and then obviously when you won, it was obviously, it was amazing. Again, you know, he was he was so graceful or whatever the word was about that. But no, I mean, just unbelievable, unbelievable experience to be there. Well, I think, you know, made it to even more or rather even less interesting to go and watch another fight that someone else is in because just can’t even compare for atmosphere and environment.

00:11:35:15 - 00:11:35:23
Matt Haycox
Well,

00:11:36:17 - 00:11:55:11
Brendan Loughnane
that fight in particular was probably the biggest fight of my career. Chris Wade, because he was the favorite to win the whole thing. And Chris was a very, very, very, very dangerous fighter. And when he was saying it, he was talking to me in this like we had we had a face off two days before. And he's like, he has fought better guys.

00:11:55:18 - 00:12:13:02
Brendan Loughnane
He is more experienced than me, on paper. That's why they had me as 3-1 Underdog, he should have won! And like can you imagine sitting down with a guy and he saying, Yeah, I've come over here. He said, I'm going to pin you down, choke you out in front of your mom and everyone? Yeah. And I'm looking at him thinking, he might fucking possibly do that, you know?

00:12:13:24 - 00:12:39:00
Brendan Loughnane
So the nerves and what had to battle to get through that fight alone is - it was incredible. And like, I was nervous, even like when I was warming up, it just didn't feel right and like, I could hear - because first time I fought at home in about four years. I’ve always been in America and the grudge match leading up to it, the anxiety of the shit that he's saying he's going to do to me, and then all you guys being there.

00:12:39:15 - 00:12:58:05
Brendan Loughnane
Don't forget, I've been in America for four years when no one's really there, so there's no pressure. Whereas you're saying he had the pressure. I actually had the pressure because he's the one that's coming over here with nothing to lose sorta thing. I'm the one with 6000 screaming English going mental. And if you lose, mate, you're the one who has to see everyone.

00:12:58:10 - 00:13:05:21
Brendan Loughnane
Speak to everyone. So I just remember when I was walking out there and I just looked around, it was like a football match. Wasn’t it? It was all.

00:13:06:06 - 00:13:06:13
Matt Haycox
Manchester!

00:13:06:15 - 00:13:06:24

Yeah.

00:13:06:25 - 00:13:24:09
Brendan Loughnane
Like, best atmosphere I fought in. And I proper like said to myself, like, because I’ve not fought in England for so long, I'm going to enjoy this moment. So I don't know if you really remember when I walked out, I proper looked about, walked up and down. Enjoyed it for a second. Thought just be in the moment. Just be in the moment.

00:13:24:09 - 00:13:44:17
Brendan Loughnane
This isn’t going to last forever. So when are you going to get all your mates there and this sort of thing again? So I’ll just soak the moment up and once the fight got started, I just, you know, I was, I was in the zone. He was giving me a good head kick in the first round, nearly knocked me out. I think that woke me up and then once I started getting my rhythm and that, and I started taking control of the fight, it was just one of the most memorable moments in my career.

00:13:44:18 - 00:14:08:07
Matt Haycox
Funny you talk about being pinned down. Because you’ve just made me remember something from the fight as well, which as a non fighter or certainly like a non wrestler, understand that. Me and my mate who'd come to come to watch were like,’ Oh my God. The fights over!’. About - I remember the high kick and then about, I don't know, 45, 50 seconds into the first round, he got you on the floor and he was on top of you.

00:14:08:07 - 00:14:24:05
Matt Haycox
Yeah. And I look at that position and think, if anyone got on top of me in that position, even if they're half my weight, I'm never, ever, ever getting up, you know, never, never mind a professional fighter being - pinning me down in that position. And whilst he’s pinning me down, punching me in the head.

00:14:25:07 - 00:14:25:11

Exactly!

00:14:25:12 - 00:14:27:27
Matt Haycox
And kicking me at the same time. So we're looking and thinking, ‘Oh, my

00:14:27:27 - 00:14:28:05
Brendan Loughnane
God.’

00:14:28:08 - 00:14:57:21
Matt Haycox
Fights over, you know. But then, I mean, it lasted about a minute. I mean, probably felt like 10 minutes to you. Yeah, but it really was about a minute of, and I remember describing this to people after the fight but I can’t even say what happened is, f*cking hell there was this horrible bit in the first, in the first minute. But I said, Brendan just started to do like weird shit with his legs, you know, like, like a centimeter here and an inch there, an inch there and then just somehow he's got, you know, two feet of distance, punched him in the face to give him enough time to get back.

00:14:57:21 - 00:15:00:04
Matt Haycox
And I mean, did you remember what I'm talking about?

00:15:00:25 - 00:15:19:12
Brendan Loughnane
Clearly. So what happened was he hit me with a head kick, but I trained that hard for that fight. I knew like I was so well prepared. There was no injuries for that one. And it was just really, really well prepared. I was tuned in, I was dialed in and we knew he was a wrestler and we knew that he just wanted to hold me on the floor.

00:15:19:13 - 00:15:36:16
Brendan Loughnane
He didn't want to engage in striking. We knew he was just going to try and pin me down and look for a choke. So once he had kicked me, I actually pulled him to the ground because I was hurt when I watched the fight back, what actually happened was when he kicked me in the head of grabbed him and then pulled him to the floor because I must have been dazed.

00:15:36:16 - 00:15:52:14
Brendan Loughnane
I don't really remember what happened because the kick must have hurt me that much. But once I pulled him to the floor, the reason I did that is, I must have been hurt and I thought if he hits me one more time, I might just go out. So I just grabbed him to try and keep myself up and then pulled him down to kind of have a little rest and a reset.

00:15:53:20 - 00:16:01:23
Brendan Loughnane
And then once I kind of got my senses on the floor. Okay, I know where I am. Right, sweet. Let's work on getting up now. And that's all we did for eight weeks. Get up, get up, get up.

00:16:01:23 - 00:16:15:03
Matt Haycox
When you're pinned down, I mean, obviously, I know you know what you're doing, but, do you feel on the back foot when you're pinned down or does it not, does it not even faze you? I mean, you must feel the underdog - should - if someone's on top of you, you must feel.

00:16:15:03 - 00:16:30:18
Brendan Loughnane
Well, I think the - my original gym that I first ever started at when I was 16, we did a lot of positional stuff starting there and I just became a springboard and getting up and it doesn't faze me going there now. I'm really composed and I'm really good at dodging the punches from the bottom as well.

00:16:30:26 - 00:16:45:27
Brendan Loughnane
Like I know when they posture up, there's only certain angles that they can hit you from. So I'm pretty good at doing it. And I know once they posture up to hit me, I can get up. So mate, if I went into the intricacies, we’d be here all day. But as soon as he postured up to hit me, I was springboard up.

00:16:46:09 - 00:17:01:28
Brendan Loughnane
And once I got up, I knew I could get up then because last year, I fought that Russian and I couldn't get up. He had me pinned and he just felt like an absolute... it felt like this table was on top of me. So once I got up the first time, I knew that if I go there again, I know I can keep getting up, and my confidence started growing.

00:17:02:08 - 00:17:06:16
Brendan Loughnane
Then once I started landing, I knew the fight was done like mid first round really.

00:17:07:02 - 00:17:11:12
Matt Haycox
Well, let's jump on to the final. So, how confident were you going into the final?

00:17:12:11 - 00:17:19:08
Brendan Loughnane
Never had a doubt in my mind at any point that I was going to lose that fight. Yeah, most confident I’ve ever been for anything.

00:17:19:09 - 00:17:20:12
Matt Haycox
Any fight ever.

00:17:20:25 - 00:17:36:24
Brendan Loughnane
Like the level of confidence I had was, it was scary. It was scaring me because, you know, it's Madison Square Garden and I'm fighting this guy in his country. And again, the bookies had it very even. And he's this great wrestler. He's one of the best wrestlers in America. He's got more accolades than anyone else in MMA for wrestling and like...

00:17:37:26 - 00:17:53:24
Brendan Loughnane
And then we’re drilling like getting up with my wrestling coach, getting up, getting up, getting up. And my wrestling coach obviously knows this, but because he's so famous at wrestling and he's panicking, my wrestling coach. I just looked at him and went, ‘he's not going to take me down, once’. I said, ‘Don't worry about me getting up because he's not going to even take me down.’

00:17:53:24 - 00:18:11:17
Brendan Loughnane
And my confidence was just, it was shining through and like I remember like walking over to the arena and just thinking, there wasn't even a butterfly, there wasn't anything. And I walked in, I was warming up and I started to get nervous that I wasn't nervous. So I was saying to my coach, ‘Why, I'm not getting nervous?’. And then it was almost just like, this is meant to be.

00:18:11:17 - 00:18:31:03
Brendan Loughnane
It's my moment. And it was, it was just, it was a bizarre feeling. It worried me. But now, now I look back. I just feel like I was that uber confident. I'd been through that much to get there. And I said to him, two days before, you have to look him in the eye and talk. And I literally said to Bubba, I said, I'm willing to die in there tomorrow night.

00:18:31:03 - 00:18:45:04
Brendan Loughnane
And you know what I mean, I said, like, it’s either get this mill or take me out on a body bag and I know you're not willing to go there. He’s like I am. But I looked in his eye and he just wasn't. So thought, right. Well, we'll see won’t we. I said I’m gonna take you to the later rounds and I'm going to drown you.

00:18:45:13 - 00:18:48:21
Brendan Loughnane
In deep waters. Because you don't want it like I want it. And it's exactly what happened.

00:18:49:17 - 00:18:51:26
Matt Haycox
I presume you guys saw each other when the fight had finished.

00:18:52:05 - 00:19:07:12
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah. Great guy as well, Bubba. I wish it was someone else because I actually really like him, you know? And it was a moment at the end of the fight where we both, you get looked up by the doctor straight after, and he was in a really, really bad way, like they were asking him what day it was, he didn't know.

00:19:07:22 - 00:19:21:00
Brendan Loughnane
And then he's got three kids and all these three kids come walking in and I'd like got up, you know, to embrace his kids and they just were like, agh get away from me sort of thing. And they're almost scared of me of what I've just done to their dad. Do you know what I mean?

00:19:21:00 - 00:19:22:04
Matt Haycox
How old are the kids?

00:19:22:07 - 00:19:47:13
Brendan Loughnane
Very young. Three of them. And that was, that was - I didn't enjoy that at all. But he said something, he said something really important I actually want to tell everyone. I met up with him three weeks later after the fight. And we were talking about that moment. You know because he was sweet now and we was talking and he said, ‘Mate, that broke my heart, you know, you know, like your three kids coming in and the losing person was 50k mate. Winner was getting a mill and the loser was getting 50k.

00:19:47:13 - 00:20:04:04
Brendan Loughnane
So it is all or nothing basically isn’t it? And when the three kids come in and he said, ‘no’ he said ‘do you know what Brendan, I’m glad it happened like that’. I said what do you mean? He said, because they’re just used the daddy winning all the time. I'm glad they got to see the other side of it. And, you know, you can't always win in life and that'll stick with me forever that advice mate.

00:20:04:04 - 00:20:04:19
Brendan Loughnane
Really will.

00:20:04:28 - 00:20:09:01
Matt Haycox
So I guess you've, you've had a bit of time off now. I mean...

00:20:10:03 - 00:20:12:13

Can say that again!

00:20:12:13 - 00:20:16:19
Matt Haycox
Is this the longest that you've, you've, you've not trained super hard?

00:20:17:02 - 00:20:23:26
Brendan Loughnane
Well you could say not super hard. I’ve probably been in the gym maybe 15 times in the last six weeks, which is just unheard of for me. It's usually twice a day.

00:20:23:26 - 00:20:40:08
Matt Haycox
Yeah. That’s what I mean, like in all the time I've known you, I mean, it's never just been the twice a day. I mean, you've probably been in the gym twice a day, plus the yoga, the run, the - I mean. I mean, everything. Everything. A wild day for you, You know, a wild, wild weekend is having a roast and a pint isn’t it? You know, and I think it's been like that since

00:20:40:11 - 00:20:46:10
Matt Haycox
well, probably 15 plus years for you. Yeah. Yeah. Did you, did you adjust to it or did you start to get bored?

00:20:46:14 - 00:20:46:27
Brendan Loughnane
No.

00:20:46:27 - 00:20:47:06
Matt Haycox
Yeah.

00:20:47:23 - 00:21:05:28
Brendan Loughnane
Uh, no, mate I’m fucking loving it. Imagine like, starving yourself for as long as I have and wanting something as long as you have and getting it. And, like, I'm really enjoying being free for a bit... I know PFL keep ringing me about next season, mate.. but, they can fuck

00:21:05:28 - 00:21:06:05

off!

00:21:07:03 - 00:21:18:09
Brendan Loughnane
Nah, I’m only joking. But it's just like having freedom now and being financially free and having the accolade as a world champion. People look at you differently, talk to you different. Everything is different now.

00:21:18:13 - 00:21:25:28
Matt Haycox
But like we said at the beginning, you don't feel it's taking your hunger in any way. It's just, it's just pointing you now in a different direction to apply that hunger elsewhere.

00:21:25:28 - 00:21:45:11
Brendan Loughnane
No, of course, like... I'm always going to be a hard worker. And, you know, I think I was just happy to get away from training for a bit after what I had to go through them last two years to get this belt and get this money. It was just like, it was a dog's life mate, it was. It was like, you know, you've been there, you've watched my relationship, you've watched... you've watched my health. I’ve sacrificed

00:21:45:11 - 00:22:05:20
Brendan Loughnane
absolutely everything for this, like can you imagine going to bed with hunger pains at night. That's what I've been doing since I was 15 to get this. Like people won’t understand what I actually went through to get it and like now that it’s done, like, even just to be able to have a beer when I want or go to a restaurant and eat anything on the menu. How weird

00:22:05:20 - 00:22:22:28
Brendan Loughnane
does that sound? That's like a proper treat to me. And like the thought of going back to the slave life, I call it, it's not but it is at the same time, it's like it's a 24 hours a day, seven day job. The thought of going back there mate is a scary thing, it is because the silk sheets are out now aren’t they Matt? What do you do then?

00:22:23:21 - 00:22:43:21
Matt Haycox
You mention, you mention relationships. You say, you know, you know it's put strain on my relationship, has hurt lots of things. I put a post on TikTok recently, which is, which has been one of my most engaged posts for a while where I - where it was basically talking around... I think the title was ‘If you get Married, you’re fucking mad’ and...

00:22:44:13 - 00:22:45:25

Oh god, here we go

00:22:45:26 - 00:23:19:14
Matt Haycox
Go on elaborate. But, but it was obviously just a catchy title to talk, talk about the fact that I believe in business, that you can't be successful in business, I either say have the right partner or have no partner. Right. And it was it was very much talking about how, you know, I see so many businessmen or business ladies who are married and/or in serious relationship with that, where that person causes them so much distraction and so and so much difficulties within the business, whether it's getting involved in things they shouldn't be getting involved in or just battling the heads so fucking much at home, that by the time they get to work, you

00:23:19:14 - 00:23:35:10
Matt Haycox
know, they can't get anything done. And I mean, I was going to say, what's it like in professional sport? Obviously it's the same. And if anything, if anything it must be much worse because you've got, you can never really step back from the pressure. At least in business, if you're having a bad day in the office.

00:23:35:10 - 00:23:49:03
Matt Haycox
You can take a walk around the block, have a drink, whatever you need to do. But you know, if you've just had a barney with the missus, you know, an hour before the fight or if you've got serious problems in your relationship, you know, for weeks leading up to the fight. And how the fuck do you get that out of your head?

00:23:49:16 - 00:24:06:14
Brendan Loughnane
Well, I've always said a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter. My coach always told me that, and when you're happy, you’re dangerous, because. Well, I'll go back to what my mind coach told me as well. And you know, oh I do want to get, I want to get some good clips of this for Bruce because he's really helped me in this camp and he made me list ten things to, What’s

00:24:06:14 - 00:24:25:16
Brendan Loughnane
Brendan's perfect fight count look like? what needs to be in order for Brendan to be the best version of himself. So we wrote it down and it was the usual, you know, no barnies with a missus. It was, you know, the diets right. It was, Are you getting a 8 hours of sleep. It was, you know, the correct sparring partners, the correct coach and the correct game plan.

00:24:25:28 - 00:24:59:16
Brendan Loughnane
And we listed it all down. And it's the first time I've actually wrote it down in a camp like, what makes Brendan tick. But yeah, I mean, I’ve had barnies me and, and then just not slept, no ate, not gone to sparring properly, had my head punched in. And like if everything is not in order when you're a fighter, I mean I watched, honestly, mate, I've been in this game my whole life from 15 years old and I've just seen so many fighters just lose. Got all the talent and all the skill in the world, but they can't get it together outside the gym.

00:24:59:16 - 00:25:19:27
Brendan Loughnane
I tell people that training is 10% a day. What you do with the other 90? A lot of them will just train. They'll be great in the gym. They'll leave, they’ll eat a McDonald’s Burger, they'll, they'll go and argue with their birds. Then they'll.. mate everyone else's out of order. So, touching on the point with what you’re saying there. For that last tournament, mate.

00:25:19:27 - 00:25:45:26
Brendan Loughnane
When I say everything was in order like I had an alarm on my phone for when I was going sleep, I made sure I had X amount of litres as a day. I made sure I was meditating. I was visioning the fight, I was correct sparring. I even brought southpaws in because the guy was a southpaw. I ticked every single box so I knew once the cage door closed on that night, that, you know, if I lost, I couldn't have done any more.

00:25:45:26 - 00:26:02:00
Brendan Loughnane
Could you imagine losing knowing that you could have done more? And I thought, I'll never, ever live in myself. So maybe that's where the supreme confidence came from on the night. Because it was supreme. It wasn't just like I could lose this. There was absolutely no doubt. And I think it was ticking all them boxes.

00:26:02:20 - 00:26:28:24
Matt Haycox
It's very good. I interviewed a guy on on this podcast recently, completely different topic, but he's an author who's interviewed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of CEOs and founders of businesses. And obviously in that, he’s had a whole mix of people, billionaires to multi-millionaires to millionaires and less. And I was asking him, one of the - I was asking him what kind of character traits do you see within the billionaires or, you know, what was setting the billionaires away from the millionaires?

00:26:28:24 - 00:26:48:23
Matt Haycox
I think maybe I'm trying to see a parallel here between, you know, good fighters in the world, world class fighters. And he said the billionaires all have some sense of delusion. And, you know, they really believe that they can go and they can go make make those billions against any odds, you know, they can come up with an idea that no one else believes in.

00:26:49:05 - 00:27:03:25
Matt Haycox
They've got to go raise funds that everyone says is impossible to raise. And, but they don't think that what they're doing is a hard task. They think there's no way in the world that they will that they will have anything that stops them from achieving that. And for them, it's like it's like a dead certain. It was just making me think about that

00:27:03:25 - 00:27:09:05
Matt Haycox
when you were just saying what you're saying there, that you know, you were going to win that fight. There was nothing that was going to stop you winning it.

00:27:09:09 - 00:27:25:08
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah, well, it was like I said, I was very nervous for the semifinal because the added pressure of everyone being there. But once I got past that pressure and I dealt with it and I had the performance that I did, it was that it was the mind coach, it was the fact that the training camp I went.. It didn't go perfect.

00:27:25:25 - 00:27:39:11
Brendan Loughnane
11 days out before the final, I don’t know if you know, snapped my toe in half. My second toe along, not only did I snap it, it was pointing up 3:00. It just was facing that way. In training? Yeah. My last spar. I kicked this guy, he blocked it with his elbow, and it just snapped my toe. Yeah.

00:27:39:21 - 00:27:44:07
Matt Haycox
It’s always the last one though isn’t it? It was the last one that, that you bust your knee

00:27:44:07 - 00:28:10:15
Brendan Loughnane
Do you know why it’s the last one? Because I cut so much weight for a fight, that by the ten days out. I'm very, very malnourished at that point and all my bones go weak. Everything goes weak because well right now I'm probably about 78 kilo, I fight at 66. So by that point I'm probably 71/72 kilo. My body's not designed to be anywhere near there, so you can't absorb the blows that it would like now.

00:28:10:25 - 00:28:40:20
Brendan Loughnane
So yeah, I kicked, it broke and I just looked down at it mate and I just though, fuck off. Why now? And then a very funny story. You won't believe this, this is another mad thing. I was in a gym where like I didn't know half the fighters obviously because it's a very, you know, it's a big gym and there’s about 60 people on the mat that day when I did it. And I’m thinking fucking hell, I can’t have him find out about this because even like if you pin you on the fence and started standing on it like, imagine.. It's broken, it's going to work. So I thought, fuck

00:28:40:20 - 00:29:10:27
Brendan Loughnane
Bubba Jenkins then comes out with a post the next day on his Instagram. You can't write this, but... put a video of me on training. Not in, not that session, but in a fight and put a mad little me song behind it. One of them. And like it was, the quote was ‘toe the line’ something, something, something. I've gone, ‘who the fucks told him I broke this toe?’ and I swore blind I was looking at everyone in the gym. Eyeing them up. I swear someone had told him. And when I went for dinner with him 3 weeks after the fight, I said, I need to ask you something.

00:29:10:27 - 00:29:29:16
Brendan Loughnane
Who told you? He went, no, that's just a saying in America. toe the line. he went, nobody told me anything. And in my head I was dead certain that someone had grassed me up in the gym and I was - I even had a hit list. I had shortlist of three guys. I was like, it’s definitely one of them! I was like looking at them in the gym like someone's DMed him and said, Brendan's injured.

00:29:29:24 - 00:29:35:18
Brendan Loughnane
Someone's been that vicious to do that. No one had said anything. That's just shows where your mind goes at them levels.

00:29:36:01 - 00:29:56:14
Matt Haycox
Look, when I, when I said we were doing this podcast on Instagram, I put a little post up to see if anyone had any questions. Okay. And it's funny, I sometimes do it with guests I’ve got on and I'll get a few questions. But I've had more questions sent to you than I think I’ve had from everybody put together so everybody shows shows how much I guess everyone's followed you and invested in this.

00:29:56:26 - 00:30:00:11
Matt Haycox
I've read some of these. I don't know. I mean, I don’t even understand half of this stuff - let’s have a laugh

00:30:01:05 - 00:30:02:07
Brendan Loughnane
Mank Twang is it??

00:30:02:07 - 00:30:07:18
Matt Haycox
I'm going to do these in... in the order that they came. And if you don't want to answer anything, just tell me

00:30:07:19 - 00:30:07:28
Brendan Loughnane
There’s a few there isn’t there?

00:30:09:05 - 00:30:12:18

More. More, more than that. Yeah. We don’t have to do them all

00:30:12:18 - 00:30:14:09
Brendan Loughnane
People actually wanna know me nowadays

00:30:14:21 - 00:30:27:09
Matt Haycox
Let's start off with a fun one. says Let's play fuck, marry, kill. I don't even know who these people are. Kayla Harrison. Paige Vanzant, Mrs. Dana White.

00:30:29:06 - 00:30:34:17

I’ll pass that one! Next question - I'm going to save

00:30:34:17 - 00:30:44:21
Matt Haycox
that until last actually. How difficult have you found it making a life from fighting? I don't know. I mean, I don’t know if it means making it a life after fighting.

00:30:44:21 - 00:30:44:25
Brendan Loughnane
In the

00:30:44:25 - 00:30:47:16
Matt Haycox
context of fighting. Anyway you answer it how you think

00:30:47:16 - 00:31:08:13
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah. I mean, very hard. I know exactly what they’re saying. It's like only 1% of anyone that ever does this sport gets paid, maybe even half a percent. Because even in the UFC, you know, you making 10,000 to turn up and 10000 to win. $20000 pay your tax, pay your manager and you pay your coach. What are you coming out with, 3, 4 grand? What if you've got kids?

00:31:08:18 - 00:31:16:08
Brendan Loughnane
So I mean, like so again, I know exactly what they’re saying there. So yeah, it's been very difficult, but I'm very thankful to PFL for changing my life.

00:31:16:10 - 00:31:29:06
Matt Haycox
But overall what people don't appreciate as well is that that's the same at the top of every game. You know, And people always see, you know, the ones at the top of the game or the ones doing very well and think, well, I want to do that because I want that money, whether it's fighting.

00:31:29:10 - 00:31:29:14
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah

00:31:29:14 - 00:31:50:29
Matt Haycox
football, acting, business. Whatever. You know what, whatever game you’re doing, you know, the people at the best have put in years and years and years of graft and years and years and years of sacrifice. Ok, there's always you know, there's always a lucky person in business like there’s a particularly talented footballer who's probably trained less than everybody else or maybe a fighter - but, you know, they're the freaks and the lottery winners and anything aren’t they?

00:31:50:29 - 00:32:01:11
Matt Haycox
But, you know, the reality is, you know, to make a life out of anything is a tough gig - true - tell him, to call out Paddy the Pussy. He was laughing at Brendan to Dana White

00:32:01:24 - 00:32:03:29
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah, well, we’ve ironed that one out.

00:32:05:22 - 00:32:10:12
Matt Haycox
Someone says what's going through - What was going through your mind when Bubba hit you clean on the nose?

00:32:10:25 - 00:32:13:19
Brendan Loughnane
Er.. nothing mate. I loving it. I was that in the moment.

00:32:13:19 - 00:32:25:15
Matt Haycox
I was going to say you.. he probably hits you on the nose so many times. It's just, it just goes unnoticeable doesn’t it? Well, this is an interesting one. Is 24 too late to start MMA with no martial arts background?

00:32:26:07 - 00:32:48:20
Brendan Loughnane
Good question. Uh, I mean, it's going to be very difficult from that age. You know, I was 15, 16, and I know guys that are 21 that have had 40 fights now. I mean, like I have so yeah, it's going to be difficult. Nothing's impossible. Obviously you get anomalies in anything, but it's going to be difficult.

00:32:50:11 - 00:32:53:29
Matt Haycox
Treadmill, road or track, what’s your favourite - track

00:32:53:29 - 00:32:54:08
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah.

00:32:55:07 - 00:32:56:16
Matt Haycox
That was quick - yeah track

00:32:56:24 - 00:32:58:28
Brendan Loughnane
It's not my favorite. I hate it but it’s the best

00:32:59:03 - 00:33:18:19
Matt Haycox
I like the treadmill because at least it keeps me going when I can’t be arsed. You know, when when you road running or, you know, jogging on the street. I just think, I’ll have a little walk now, but at least with the treadmills ticking over - true true - stops me doing it. You’re probably a bit more disciplined. Is Darren Till still insane off camera? And where does he rank among the strikers that you’ve sparred?

00:33:18:25 - 00:33:38:07
Brendan Loughnane
Oh, good question, not he's not very insane, no, he's just one of the boys. He's you know, he's a family man, he's got four kids. He’s a great lad. In terms of guys that I’ve sparred, Darren's probably one of the most solid fighters ever seen in in this game and we're going back to Thailand together in a couple of days and I'm looking forward to being there with him

00:33:38:18 - 00:33:48:25
Matt Haycox
The one I’ve saved until last because it's something we've been talking about. Yeah, says - I’ll say their words - are you investing now what with fighting been such a short career?

00:33:49:17 - 00:34:08:05
Brendan Loughnane
Well that's what we're talking about now isn’t it Matt? Yeah, I made some good investments. Made some good investments. Just bought a property here. Gonna be investing some with yourself, moving the money around. And I think I feel like I've got good people around me. I mean, if I’d have earnt this money, and not known people like yourselves. And then in Manchester, I think it would have been a lot more difficult.

00:34:08:05 - 00:34:25:07
Brendan Loughnane
But feel like being in Dubai, you're around successful, motivated, hungry people that have been there where you are and you know how to help you in this position. So I feel like the circle that I’m in is a very positive one and I think that even though it's a mill, I think it can be turned over quite well with the information that

00:34:25:07 - 00:34:44:07
Matt Haycox
I'm getting. Well, I think the thing that I’ll say on this is I feel like I'm finally chipping on something because, you know, hosting a fighting conversation isn't really my forte. But what we've talked about, I think what applies to, you know, to anyone, you know, from sports or who gets a lump outside the money, you know, a lump of money outside their core business.

00:34:44:07 - 00:35:01:24
Matt Haycox
Like I was saying to is, the two main things are protecting the capital and generating income. And, you know, everybody gets a lump of money. I mean, everyone gets a lump of money - but anyone who gets a lump of money, it's always like, right, I've got to go and stick 200 grand into Bitcoin. I've got to go and put 500 grand into this scheme.

00:35:01:24 - 00:35:02:06
Brendan Loughnane
It’s all -

00:35:02:07 - 00:35:02:22

Ponzi’s

00:35:04:13 - 00:35:24:22
Matt Haycox
Either Ponzi’s or just insane levels of risk that are very inappropriate and, you know, a million is a lot of money and it's also not a lot of money - yep - when you say, you know, you 34, 33 years old and you and you've got to get through the rest of, the rest of your life with it and what's you know, so first of all, you've got to make sure you don't lose it.

00:35:24:29 - 00:35:56:27
Matt Haycox
And secondly, you know, people really underestimate the power of the income and, I think, you know, what we talked about with you, especially still having another couple of years fighting in you is about not doing anything stupid with that money, you know, to protect it and get a nice level of return. You know, not looking for doubling it next year or tripling it up with, you know, with some crazy bitcoin or crypto that could make it go to nothing but go and get seven, eight, nine, ten, 11% return off that, you know, get, get 50, 80, 100 grand a year.

00:35:56:28 - 00:36:15:26
Matt Haycox
Nice solid income that way, you know your capital is protected. And whether it's paying all your bills, it's taking all the pressure off you because I mean ultimately that's what having money is about, you know, reducing pressure, providing freedom and then allowing the flexibility to, you know, to go back to fight and then trying to earn another big lump of money.

00:36:16:05 - 00:36:40:27
Matt Haycox
Because, again, you know, your skill and it's not doing you any disrespect. Your skill is not making, it is not making money from finance. Your skill is making money from fighting. So, you know, the big mistake, you know, people typically in your position make is to go out and do wild shit with the money. You will either buy Ferraris or invest it in stuff that they just don't understand and let people who shouldn't be anywhere near them do it and go... and just go

00:36:40:27 - 00:36:58:15
Matt Haycox
nail the lot. You know, you can be in a fantastic position now. House paid for and a nice income coming in and giving you the headspace to go, to go and earn another mill next year, another couple of mill over next few years and all of a sudden, you know, in another two years time, the difference between having a mill and say having four mill is night and day.

00:36:58:15 - 00:36:59:05
Matt Haycox
Black and white.

00:36:59:05 - 00:37:02:11
Brendan Loughnane
- they say it's easy from here Matt, is it true? once you get the first one?

00:37:02:22 - 00:37:24:26
Matt Haycox
Well, you know, I'd say, listen, it's definitely easier because it's not about the money. It's about the compounding, you know, the compounding of knowledge, the compounding of information, the compound of what you've already got. And I guess you can probably find an analogy to that yourself in fighting that, I don’t know, getting your first punch is the hardest and, well, taking your first punches is the hardest

00:37:25:14 - 00:37:44:16
Matt Haycox
As time goes on, you know, you get more immune to that or once you've, when you've run your first mile, you know, the second, third, fourth, fifth are easier because you've got the basics. And ultimately, you know, growth and success in anything is just, you know, it's not one quick big hit. It's the compounding of the little things time and time again.

00:37:44:16 - 00:38:03:18
Matt Haycox
So, yeah, when, I know, you know, when I lost all my money, let's say in 2008, you know, I was never... I’m not going to say I was never worried about losing it. But I was kind of relaxed when it came out of it, out of it, because I knew everything I'd already done to make it the first time around. And I can go back it again, you know, a lot quicker because I can sidestep all the mistakes.

00:38:03:18 - 00:38:25:21
Matt Haycox
You know, It's like, you know, you've taken your foot off pedal for now from the training, but when you start again, you've already got that underlying level of conditioning in your body. You already know the the things that were good for you, that don't work good for you so, you know, you can you can take three, four, five, six months off of running, running slowly and then go and in a month be back in the shape of your life again.

00:38:26:04 - 00:38:33:07
Matt Haycox
You know, I think, you know, I mean, there's always, always analogies between sport and business, but I think, you know, these are these are very pertinent for now.

00:38:33:16 - 00:39:00:07
Brendan Loughnane
Yeah. I mean, well, touching on what you saying there, like I actually think that this, this time now I've really valued and appreciated it because anything I was dealing with like emotionally, financially or anything had to go to the backburner from January. So I feel like it was an emotional, like complete release once the fight had done and I dropped to my knees, I was crying mate, because it wasn't so much the money on the belt.

00:39:00:07 - 00:39:02:01
Brendan Loughnane
It was like, thank God that -

00:39:02:05 - 00:39:03:23
Matt Haycox
It's just that release of emotion isn’t it?

00:39:03:23 - 00:39:40:21
Brendan Loughnane
It’s just like that weight of I am a world champion. I've got it but further more than that, like the expectation that was on me to win it and the, the pressure and all that was just like lifted. I literally fell to the floor because I was like, thank God and like this six weeks that I’ve had now. Been having a conversation with yourself, with Scott, - networking meeting with people and I've enjoyed it because I’ve not had to think, ‘oh what time am I in the gym?’. you know, that always came first and now it was, it was good to debrief and meet you guys, invest some, buy the property, really go around and look at properties and enjoy myself.

00:39:40:23 - 00:39:56:01
Brendan Loughnane
I've got gym in an hour. That was always the first thing. So now that that's out of the way and I just said, I've got the property now, moving the money around and now it's time to, you know, the days are coming. I could see them ticking towards the next flight and I'll be on the plains to Thailand, you know, as soon as I get the keys for this.

00:39:56:21 - 00:40:06:00
Brendan Loughnane
And it's that sort of grind. It's scary. Scaring the life out of me thinking of it. But ultimately, I love it. And that is where the lumps come from and the lumps are going to be important down the line.

00:40:07:04 - 00:40:22:29
Matt Haycox
I mean, do you have one specific goal for what's going to happen in the next year or two of your career? I mean, I guess money aside, you know, winning that title for the PFL, I mean, it was quite a... I don't know, what's the word, you know, I mean, quite an individual and unique goal, isn't it?

00:40:22:29 - 00:40:33:21
Matt Haycox
But I mean, you know, are there any individual fights you want to have, that a particular targets, you know, any particular opponents? I mean what’s the next level of - up the ladder of success for you?

00:40:33:21 - 00:40:54:18
Brendan Loughnane
Well, again, we’re six weeks on. I've not really got to that bit yet because of the whirlwind that I’ve been in and enjoying life and freedom. Now it's... the pen and paper is out now. The mind coach is back on the zoom and it's what's next because.. and another good friend of mine, Bugsy Malone, I spent quite a lot of time with him over the last few days.

00:40:55:08 - 00:41:09:16
Matt Haycox
He actually - I was, I don't know him, but his friends.. well, he’s friends with my accountant and I was on a boat in Monaco and he was, he was in the hot tub. So I went and got, went and got into the hot tub with him, I said, Oh, so you're accountants

00:41:10:00 - 00:41:10:23

my accountant.

00:41:11:17 - 00:41:11:26
Brendan Loughnane
Random

00:41:12:17 - 00:41:13:15
Matt Haycox
Anyway, very random.. sorry

00:41:13:23 - 00:41:14:07

He....

00:41:14:20 - 00:41:40:00
Brendan Loughnane
Actually gave me the best advice I’ve ever had in my life. When anyone says, ‘What's the advice you ever had?’. He give me this about four years ago. And he said, actually probably a bit more than that. But he said, Get that good at your craft that people have to pay a fortune to see it. And that was the one that stuck with me the most, because back then I was probably earning five grand a fight.

00:41:40:25 - 00:41:57:21
Brendan Loughnane
And then when I seen him the other day and was chatting about it, I said, Fucking hell, that stuck with me. And he also said to me, He's other bit of advice that really stuck with me was, ‘you're doing all this hard work all day, but you're not manifesting anything. You're not, you've got nothing written down that you actually want’.

00:41:57:21 - 00:42:12:12
Brendan Loughnane
You've what do you actually want? And I didn't know. From that moment I printed off pictures of the belts. I changed to the screensaver on my phone. I posted that belt and the cheque all around my house. It was everywhere. And I started manifesting from that moment. Then when I seen him the other day, we was chatting again

00:42:13:03 - 00:42:36:10
Brendan Loughnane
We went, You're at a scary point now. Now you're at the transition. Now you're there where the first bit I told you. Now it's time to go to the next level and, but it's not an easy transition. You're going to go through a lot of hardships now. So I feel like he's guiding me because he's been there, you know, you’re talking about a guy that wrote a lyric when he was 16 that said tell Guy Ritchie he doesn't have to pay me because Snatch is my all time favourite gangster movie.

00:42:36:24 - 00:43:00:17
Brendan Loughnane
He manifested being in a Guy Ritchie film from 16 right, selling weed on the estate. Come on mate. Like it's just out of this world, what he's done. So me, he's guiding me in the right direction. And, you know, being with him the other day was like, fucking hell, and, you know, going for dinner again tonight. And I'm just trying to be around people like yourselves and trying to move to the next level now because, yeah, I'm a world champion now yeah, but what's next?

00:43:00:17 - 00:43:19:10
Brendan Loughnane
I'm ready for this. Something scary, it needs to be something - that one took me 16 years. So give me something else that's going to take that long because it is the pleasure and the pursuit, as they say, because once you do reach it, it’s an empty feeling, it is. Now it's time for the next one. The pen and paper’s out and when I get them, you know, I'll let you know what they are.

00:43:20:00 - 00:43:34:08
Matt Haycox
Well, whatever the next step is, I'm sure we’ll be there to watch it. Yeah. And it's been an exciting journey in the couple of years I've known you. And I'm looking forward to the next couple of years ahead. So thanks again for being here buddy. Looking forward to round number three. - Yes, let’s go! - round number three of

00:43:34:09 - 00:43:36:21
Brendan Loughnane
podcasts - what it is, it’ll be the Billionaire podcast.

00:43:37:24 - 00:44:01:16
Matt Haycox
Guys, I hope you've enjoyed listening to that. I know I always, always love talking to Brendan both on and off camera. As always, if you've listened to this on the audio version, you can go over to YouTube and check out the videos there. If you're watching this as a video, you can always get rid of my face and listen to the audio on iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts, make sure you like, subscribe and follow me on all things social.

00:44:01:21 - 00:44:10:11
Matt Haycox
I'm The Matt Haycox. That's T H E M A T T H A Y C O X. And I'll see you in a future episode of The Matt Haycox Show.