What to know
- 42-year-old former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson starred in the main event of PFL Brussels on Saturday, May 23, opposite undefeated striker Patrick Habirora.
- Habirora was a -1700 favourite entering the fight, which was slammed by fight fans as horrendous matchmaking.
- The fight ended in just 20 seconds after Habirora caught Henderson with a flurry of strikes and finished him on the ground.
Benson Henderson was demolished in disgusting PFL Brussels main event
While all eyes are on a serious mismatch of boxing talent in Usyk vs. Rico this Saturday, another colossal mismatch drew a collective gasp from MMA fans. PFL Brussels headlined with the ghost of former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson — a 42-year-old fighter who hadn’t fought in MMA since 2023.
‘Hendo’ actually hadn’t won a professional contest since 2022, unless you count his boxing decision victory over Nate Diaz’s MMA journeyman friend Chris Avila in 2024. Otherwise, Henderson was 1-5 across boxing, wrestling, karate, and MMA since his last high-profile contest in 2023.
This didn’t stop PFL from matching him up against their ‘Belgian Bomber’ Patrick Habirora, an undefeated striker. Alarm signals were sent across the MMA world when Habirora entered the fight as an insane -1700 favourite.
Habirora loomed over Henderson at the face-offs. 17 years Henderson’s junior, Habirora stood four inches taller and had a five-inch reach advantage.
Habirora knocks out Henderson in 20 seconds
The fight played out exactly as the oddsmakers predicted, a Habirora knockout in just 20 seconds. He caught a tentative Henderson with a lead left hook, sending the WEC veteran stumbling to the ground. Some follow-up shots sent Henderson stiff, and the fight was called off.
MMA fans scorn PFL for terrible matchmaking
Naturally, the result came with some controversy.
“F*****g shut down the PFL why is Benson Henderson fighting at 42?” One fan reacted on X.
“This and MVP having Junior Dos Santos fight [Robelis] Despaigne feels like it should be illegal,” Another wrote.
“Ben is 400 years old. What are we doing PFL,” Another remarked.
That’s back-to-back weekends with horrendous MMA matchmaking. Most Valuable Promotion’s inaugural Netflix MMA event last weekend featured some squash fights.
Notably, they paired notoriously chinny, 42-year-old Junior Dos Santos against Robelis Despaigne, a prime, towering striker known for knocking out opponents in the opening seconds of a fight.
‘JDS’ lasted three minutes. While being younger, Philipe Lins suffered a similar fate against Francis Ngannou on the night’s main card. It could have been worse, however, as the Ngannou fight was offered to 51-year-old stroke survivor Mirko Cro Cop, according to the Croatian himself.
Feeding the old to the young is nothing new to combat sports, but the immorality of the practice never fades.
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- Usyk vs Verhoeven still isn’t a real contest, even with official approval
- ONE Championship star Stamp Fairtex set for first Muay Thai fight since 2020
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