A lot of MMA fans outside of western Europe probably woke up on Saturday not knowing who Patrick Habirora was. Then the undefeated Belgian made his presence known by starching former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson in 20 seconds in the PFL main event in Brussels.
Habirora, who grew up and still lives and trains less than 45 miles from Brussels, received a hero's welcome at ING Arena. The crowd gave him the loudest ovation of the night by far. A saxophone player standing on the apron of the cage played his walkout music. A "Patrick! Patrick!" chant from the stands lasted into the start of the fight. It didn't last long, though, because the fight didn't last long.
Habirora (9-0) dropped Henderson with his second punch of the fight, a left hook that sent his opponent crashing face-first to the canvas. As the crowd roared, Habirora swarmed Henderson with two hammer fists before referee Mike Beltran could push him away and wave off the bout.
It was the seventh consecutive knockout for Habirora, the fourth in a row to come in the first round. This one was by far the biggest victory in the young career of Habirora, 25, who fought for the first time as a pro in January 2024 -- 10 months after Henderson (30-13) last competed in MMA.
The welterweight bout was a battle of generations. Henderson, who fights out of Glendale, Arizona, is 42. When he took the UFC lightweight belt from Frankie Edgar in 2012, Habirora was 10 years old.
After dispatching Henderson in mere seconds, Habirora paid respect to the former champ -- and by extension, to all of the world's people.
"This is a sport. Benson and I, maybe later on tonight, we'll be sharing a drink together," Habirora said through a French interpreter. "We are not adversaries in this world full of wars and conflict. We use this [platform] to say: You must respect your other. You must respect everyone."
Then Habirora made a high-profile callout -- of a fighter not on the PFL roster.
"I heard they was talking about Mike Perry," he said, referring to the former UFC fighter and current bare-knuckle combatant who last weekend finished Nate Diaz on the Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano undercard. "Hey, Mike Perry, if you're coming to PFL, let's go."
