A pair of former UFC combatants will face off at PFL Brussels this May.
On Wednesday, promotion officials announced that Taylor Lapilus (24-4) will face off against Jake Hadley (12-5) at the event, set for the ING Arena on May 23, 2026. The bout takes place in the bantamweight division.
Benson Henderson returns from retirement in the main event, taking on Patrick “The Belgian Bomber” Habirora in a welterweight match-up.
Lapilus went 6-2 in two stints with the UFC, and both times left the promotion off wins. Currently, the French star known as “Double Impact” sits on a five-right win streak that includes victories over Cody Stamann, Vince Morales, Ali Taleb and others. After winning his last two fights in the UFC (Stamann, Morales), he jumped to the PFL, rattling off three straight victories.
Most recently, Lapilus finished off Kasum Kasumov via TKO last month.
Jake Hadley went 3-4 in his UFC stint, which was not without its share of controversy. “White Kong” missed weight for his Contender Series bout in 2021, which saw him defeat Mitch Raposo. He was signed to the promotion regardless, then lost his debut against Allan Nascimento.
Hadley also claimed he was briefly cut by the UFC after refusing a short-notice fight with Igor Severino, and was eventually let go off the final fight of his contract after losing to Cameron Smotherman.
The English bantamweight went 1-1 in the PFL last year, defeating fellow UFC alum Matheus Mattos before being bounced from the World Tournament by Marcirley Alves.
