Jesus Pinedo Says Last-Minute Opponent Change Impacted PFL Debut

Jesus Pinedo’s first Professional Fighters League assignment didn’t go according to plans, but he’s ready to bounce back against Brendan Loughnane at PFL 4 2023 Regular Season.

Pinedo (20-6-1, 0-1 PFL) believes he couldn’t showcase his skillset in his first PFL fight, where “El Mudo” was supposed to face Sung Bin Jo before his orginally-scheduled opponent wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Bin Jo was replaced by Gabriel Braga on extremely short notice, with Pinedo dropping a narrow split decision. When it comes to studying his opponents, Pinedo confesses he watches footage once when he receives the name. Still, during training camp, he leaves the analysis and strategizing to his team, which dissects his adversary’s fights, brings him various scenarios, and helps him prepare. That’s why Pinedo couldn’t perform at his best against Braga. There should be no unforeseen situations with Loughnane as Pinedo is especially aware of his opponent’s kicking game.

“It had a huge effect on my gameplan. For the Bin Jo fight, I had a long training camp and we were able to dissect what he does well and where there were holes in his game. When it came to switching against Gabriel, I really didn't know if he was a striker or a grappler. It just threw off the whole game plan, and these things just kind of happened. That's the fight game.”

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