It only took a few hours for a formerly-undefeated UFC prospect to share an update with fans after suffering a devastating first MMA loss.
Headlined by a light heavyweight main event where Johnny Walker beat the odds and stop Mingyang Zhang in the second round, UFC Shanghai also saw unbeaten flyweight Lone’er Kavanagh get a major step up in competition when he took on #15-ranked Charles Johnson.
Kavanagh came into the matchup as more than a two-to-one favorite, but late in the second round the 26-year-old got caught by a huge right hand that sent him to the canvas before Johnson dove in to secure the finish.
Johnson earned a well-deserved “Performance of the Night” bonus for his upset-win, while Kavanagh suffered his first loss since a 2015 amateur bout and saw a perfect start to his professional career come to an end in his tenth fight.
READ MORE: UFC confirms banger debut fight for two-division MMA champion at UFC Paris
The flyweight could be forgiven if he’d wanted to take some time to process the setback, but Kavanagh took to Instagram just a few hours after the conclusion of UFC Shanghai to reflect on the loss and promise that he’s already looking ahead to the future.
Lone’er Kavanagh’s Instagram story after UFC Shanghai. / (Instagram)
“Firstly, I just want to say I’m sorry. Secondly, I want to say thank you to my team and the amazing people around me. My team is amazing. It was my fault entirely. I made stupid mistakes and got caught. I’ll be back better than ever. This won’t happen again.”
A member of Great Britain Top Team, Kavanagh closed out a seven-fight amateur career in 2019 when he scored back-to-back finishes to kick off his time as a professional MMA fighter.
READ MORE: UFC reveals stacked main card for Alex Pereira’s next fight
The 26-year-old debuted for top UK MMA promotion Cage Warriors in 2022 with another stoppage-win. After bringing his record to 6-0, he met fellow undefeated flyweight prospect An Tuan Ho on Dana White’s Contender Series last year and won a UFC contract with a first-round knockout.
Charles Johnson and Lone’er Kavanagh during their UFC Shanghai flyweight bout. / (Zuffa LLC)
Kavanagh won his first two UFC outings against Jose Ochoa and Felipe dos Santos before coming up short against Johnson, who rejoined the flyweight rankings at #15 ahead of UFC Shanghai and also returned to the win column after having a four-fight run of victories halted by Ramazan Temirov in March.
• Why Daniel Cormier says Conor McGregor is teasing a UFC return
• Top contender cut from UFC this week already set for new fight
• UFC hopeful returns from 3 year hiatus to secure 43-second KO
• Jon Jones lashes out at UFC rival for disputing his MMA GOAT status
Stick with MMAKnockout for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.