Born in Manchester, England, and growing up in Withington, Brendan attended The Barlow RC High School in Didsbury as an energetic, athletic, and football-loving teenager.
Brendan quickly fell in love with the sport and, after only three months of training, he had his first amateur fight at the age of 18.
Although he had recently completed a BTEC in mechanical engineering at North Trafford College, he decided to pursue a career in MMA.
In order to train, Brendan used a football cage at Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield as a makeshift gym, which attracted the attention of those passing by.
Loughnane appeared on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes in 2012 joining Team UK in the lightweight bracket after replacing Michael Pastou who suffered an injury in episode two which left him unable to compete.
After going 2–0 in the promotion Loughnane faced Tom Duquesnoy for the BAMMA Featherweight Championship where he lost via a controversial split decision[13] He returned in 2016 and reclaimed the FCC Lightweight title with a knockout win over David Lee, making him a two-time champion and would go on to collect two stoppage victories under the Tanko FC banner against Eden Newton and Paul Cook.
[16] Loughnane faced Paata Tsxapelia on November 25, 2017, at ACB 75: Gadzhidaudov vs. Zieliński, winning the bout via head kick knockout in the third round.
[17] After picking up a win over Amaury Junion at Celtic Gladiator 22, stopping him with leg kicks in the second round, he was invited to Dana White's Contender Series 17, where despite beating Bill Algeo via unanimous decision, he was not given a contract due to Dana White being upset that he went for a takedown in the last minute of a bout he was dominating.
[23] In the semi-finals of the 2021 Featherweight tournament, Loughnane faced Movlid Khaybulaev at PFL 9 on August 27, 2021, losing a close bout via split decision.
[30] He won the bout via TKO stoppage in the fourth round to win the $1 million collective tournament pool.
[32] He won the bout in the second round, after a barrage of leg kicks left Moraes unable to continue to fight.