{"id":389483,"date":"2026-01-05T12:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/389483\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:05:09","slug":"stephen-loman-sets-sights-on-active-2026-season-following-extended-layoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/389483\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Loman sets sights on active 2026 season following extended layoff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Filipino MMA fighter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmanetwork.com\/news\/tracking\/stephenloman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stephen \u201cThe Sniper\u201d Loman<\/a> is looking ahead to an active 2026 as he prepares to return to competition following an extended absence from the cage.<\/p>\n<p>The former BRAVE Combat Federation bantamweight world champion said the prospect of regular competition has renewed his motivation as he begins training for the coming year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am truly excited for 2026 because it guarantees that I will finally be back doing what I love,\u201d Loman, who rejoined BRAVE Combat Federation last December, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis opportunity gives me something to look forward to every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loman, 30, returned to training at Landslide Martial Arts Training Center, home of Lions Nation MMA, shortly after the holidays. He said a possible return to action by April remains on the table.<\/p>\n<p>The Igorot fighter last competed in September 2023, when he faced former UFC contender John Lineker in a bantamweight title eliminator at ONE Championship. Despite being regarded as one of the division\u2019s top contenders, that bout marked Loman\u2019s final appearance with ONE before his departure from the promotion late last year.<\/p>\n<p>Away from competition, Loman closed 2025 with a major personal milestone after marrying his longtime partner, Sheryl, on December 20 in Baguio City.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Stephen Loman with wife Sheryl\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/610966360_837440712623031_6818111517792458784_n_2026_01_05_18_28_51.jpg\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Photo: BRAVE Combat Federation<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With preparations underway, Loman said his focus is on making the most of the year ahead and reestablishing himself in the BRAVE CF bantamweight division.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am ready to work, to compete, and to show that I still belong at the top,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014JMB, GMA Integrated News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Filipino MMA fighter Stephen \u201cThe Sniper\u201d Loman is looking ahead to an active 2026 as he prepares to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[165306,49,48,641,638,82,165305],"class_list":{"0":"post-389483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-brave-combat-federation","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-fighting","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-stephen-loman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}