It was always going to be an uphill battle for former WEC and UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson at PFL Brussels.
42-years old, three years removed from his last fight after retiring. Yet for some inexplicable reason, “Smooth” chose to return to action for the Professional Fighters League in a main event pairing with the unbeaten young up-and-comer Patrick Habirora.
The welterweight fight played out very much like a Henderson fan’s worst nightmare. After trading a pair of strikes— Habirora a right hand, Henderson a kick— a left from Habirora connected out of nowhere, and Benson Henderson hit the dirt. With “Bendo” face down, Belgium’s own Habirora jumped on, adding a couple of strikes in a fight that felt like Henderson had been run over by a speeding truck.
It lasted all of 20 seconds. Ultimately, it felt very much like what it was: an unnecessary main event, another example of MMA feeding its veterans to its young.
In Henderson’s case, that story has already been played out, after he wrapped up his career with a title fight loss to Usman Nurmagomedov in Bellator. At least in that instance, Henderson had picked up a couple of wins, and was in the promotion’s lightweight grand prix. Three years later, all that was learned was something most fight fans already know: father time is undefeated in the end.
Patrick Habirora, improving to 9-0 with the victory at the ING Arena, was all class afterwards, using his platform to send a positive message. “This is a sport. Benson and I maybe later on tonight will be sharing a drink together. We are not adversaries in this world full of wars and conflict. We need to use this to say, you must respect your others, you must respect everyone.”
He went on to call out Mike Perry, who recently picked up a win over Nate Diaz at the inaugural MVP MMA event last weekend. “I heard there was talk about Mike Perry. Hey, Mike Perry, if you’re coming to PFL, let’s go!”
Whether Perry, also under contract with BKFC, would be interested in signing with the PFL remains to be seen — but his stock is likely the highest it has been in years.
Official Result: Patrick Habirora def. Benson Henderson by KO, Round 1, 0:20
