By The Numbers: Brendan Loughnane vs. Movlid Khaybulaev

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The pursuit of the same prize—a $1 million payday— has forced Brendan Loughnane and Movlid Khaybulaev to cross paths in the Professional Fighters League.

Loughnane and Khaybulaev will lock horns in the PFL 9 headliner on Friday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, their three-round confrontation providing the promotion with one of its two 2021 featherweight tournament semifinals. The winner moves on to face either Chris Wade or Bubba Jenkins in the Oct. 27 final. Loughnane enters the cage on the strength of a seven-fight winning streak. He last competed at PFL 4 on June 10, when he laid claim to a majority decision over Tyler Diamond. The unbeaten Khaybulaev, meanwhile, has rattled off three straight victories since his October 2019 encounter with Daniel Pineda resulted in a no contest. “Killer” last appeared at PFL 6, where he took a unanimous decision from Lance Palmer on June 25.

As Loughnane and Khaybulaev approach their hotly anticipated showdown, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

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

12: Loughnane victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 57% of his career total (21). His list of victims includes Sheymon Moraes, Mike Wilkinson and David Lee. Loughnane holds one other victory by submission—he put away Danny Welsh with a rear-naked choke at an Ultimate Cage Championships event in 2012—and eight more by decision.

51: Seconds needed by Loughnane to strike Dave Straughton into submission at Cage Conflict 8 on Feb. 26, 2011. Having occurred in his third professional appearance, it remains the fastest finish of his 24-fight career.

59: Combined wins between the three men—Wilkinson, Pat Healy and Tom Duquesnoy—who have beaten Loughnane. They sport a cumulative winning percentage of .656 (59-31).

68: Strikes by which Loughnane outlanded Moraes and Diamond in his two outings during the 2021 PFL regular season. He connected on 117 strikes while absorbing only 49 in return.

30: Years of age for Khaybulaev, who was born in Dagestan, Russia, on Oct. 16, 1990.

2: Khaybulaev wins by submission, accounting for 12% of his career total (17). His methods of choice: one rear-naked choke and one guillotine choke. Khaybulaev owns six other wins by knockout or technical knockout and nine more by decision.

6: First-round finishes on the Khaybulaev resume, three of them in less than 90 seconds. He submitted Paata Robakidze with a guillotine choke 73 seconds into their Fight Nights Global 53 pairing on Oct. 8, 2016, wiped out Damon Jackson with a flying knee 10 seconds into their PFL 2 affair on May 23, 2019 and dispatched Zaka Fatullazade with a rear-naked choke 66 seconds into their UAE Warriors 14 clash on Nov. 27, 2020.

8: Takedowns landed by Khabulaev against Palmer and Lazar Stojadinovic in his two appearances during the 2021 PFL regular season. He completed them on just nine attempts, giving him an 89% success rate.

24.07: Miles per hour on Khabulaev’s fastest punch in the Professional Fighters League. It was recorded in his April 23 unanimous decision over Stojadinovic at PFL 1 and, according to Cagenomics, ranks as the fourth-fastest punch speed in the promotion in 2021, trailing only Anthony Dizy (24.79), Marcin Held (24.27) and Alexander Martinez (24.14).