Patrick Habirora knocked out Benson Henderson with punches at 0:20 of round one to win the PFL Brussels welterweight main event at ING Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Habirora, fighting in his native Belgium and improving his record to 8-0, ended the bout before Henderson could find his range. Henderson entered the fight with a 30-12 record and had not fought in the cage since 2023; he is a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion.
The abrupt finish was as emphatic as the numbers suggest: a 20-second KO in a headline slot at ING Arena that left the crowd stunned and a rising prospect suddenly with one of the biggest wins of his young career. The main event followed a heated build to the weekend that included a brawl during the ceremonial weigh-ins.
The rest of the card produced a string of decisive results. Taylor Lapilus beat Jake Hadley by unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 across all judges. Boris Mbarga Atangana knocked out Jared Gooden with punches at 1:05 of round one. Naoki Inoue edged Marcirley Alves by split decision, 29-28, 29-28 and 27-30. Asael Adjoudj landed a head kick KO on Keisuke Sasu at 2:22 of round two. Gustavo Oliveira submitted Baris Adiguzel with a guillotine choke at 1:10 of round two. Donegi Abena defeated Joe Schilling by TKO after Schilling retired following a foul in the first round. Movsar Ibragimov submitted Shane Campbell with a rear-naked choke at 3:28 of round one. Khamzat Abaev stopped Luca Poclit with strikes at 2:56 of round one. Adam Meskini took a split decision over Keweny Lopes, 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29, and Ashley Reece beat Rustam Serbiev by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards.
Habirora was billed as an undefeated prospect who had risen through PFL Europe with a pair of first-round finishes last year, and those early stoppages have now been followed by a lightning-quick win over one of MMA’s best-known veterans. Henderson’s name and resume guaranteed attention; Habirora’s performance forced people to reassess the trajectory of his career in front of a home crowd.
The friction in this story is straightforward: experience met momentum and momentum won. Henderson’s status as a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion and his long cross-discipline career did not protect him from a 20-second knockout. He had returned to headline PFL Brussels (see but the return produced the kind of finish that usually claims prospects, not storied veterans.
For Habirora, the victory is a clear escalation—an undefeated Belgian finishing one of the better-known names in the sport inside 20 seconds on a major card. For Henderson, the loss sharpens a question now immediate and unavoidable: after a first-round KO in his first cage appearance since 2023, what comes next for a fighter once counted among the division’s elites?
Whatever follows, Saturday’s results will be the ones people look back at when they measure both fighters’ next moves. Habirora leaves Brussels 8-0 and with a highlight that will be replayed for weeks; Henderson leaves with a rare, abrupt defeat that forces an obvious reassessment of his path forward.
