By The Numbers: Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes

Brendan Loughnane has no issue with double dipping.

The Manchester Predators ace will open defense of his Professional Fighters League featherweight title when he kicks off his 2023 campaign against former World Series of Fighting champion Marlon Moraes in the PFL 1 headliner on Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. Loughnane enters the cage on the heels of four straight wins. He last appeared at the 2022 PFL Championships, where he cut down Bubba Jenkins with punches and a follow-up knee strike in their Nov. 25 featherweight final, then walked away with the $1 million grand prize. Moraes, meanwhile, finds himself in a five-fight tailspin that spans more than three years. The American Top Team export has not visited victory lane since he eked out a contentious split decision over two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Jose Aldo at UFC 245 on Dec. 14, 2019.

As Loughnane and Moraes move ever closer to their forthcoming battle at 145 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

33: Years of age for Loughnane, who was born in Manchester, England, on Dec. 5, 1989.

13: Loughnane victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 52% of his career total (25). Jenkins, Mike Wilkinson and David Lee anchor his list of victims. Loughnane owns one other victory by submission (4%)—he dispatched Danny Welsh with a rear-naked choke at an Ultimate Cage Championships show in April 2012—and 11 more by decision (44%).

55: Rounds completed by Loughnane as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 15 different occasions and carries an 11-4 record in those bouts.

7: First-round finishes on the Loughnane resume. They are highlighted by his 51-second rout of Dave Straughton at Cage Conflict 8, where he struck his fellow Brit into submission on Feb. 26, 2011.

.714: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Wilkinson, Movlid Khaybulaev, Pat Healy and Tom Duquesnoy—who have defeated Loughnane. They sport a combined record of 78-31-1.

34: Years of age for Moraes, who was born on April 26, 1988 in Nova Friburgo, Brazil.

6: Moraes wins by submission, accounting for 26% of his career total (23). His methods of choice: four rear-naked chokes, one guillotine choke and one keylock. Moraes holds 10 other wins by knockout or technical knockout (43%) and seven more by decision (31%).

32: Seconds needed for Moraes to punch out Carson Beebe under the World Series of Fighting banner on Oct. 26, 2013. More than nine years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

16: Consecutive calendar years in which Moraes has fought at least once. He went 1-0 in 2007, 1-2 in 2008, 1-0 in 2009, 1-0-1 in 2010, 2-2 in 2011, 2-0 in 2012, 3-0 in 2013, 2-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2015, 3-0 in 2016, 2-1 in 2017, 1-0 in 2018, 2-1 in 2019, 0-2 in 2020, 0-1 in 2021 and 0-2 in 2022.

183: Combined victories between the 11 opponents—Moraes, Yadong Song, Merab Dvalishvili, Rob Font, Cory Sandhagen, Henry Cejudo, Raphael Assuncao, Deividas Taurosevicius, Ralph Acosta, Zeilton Rodrigues and Alexandre Pinheiro—who have beaten “Magic Marlon.” They boast a cumulative .731 winning percentage at 183-67-1.