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Benson Henderson

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson explained why he is coming out of retirement to fight in the PFL.

Henderson, now 42 years old, competes in MMA again on Saturday for the first time since a submission loss to Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 292 in March 2023. He takes on rising welterweight star Patrick Habirora at PFL Brussels, in a fight where the oddsmakers don’t fancy his chances of winning.

According to the latest betting odds, Habirora is a massive -1600 betting favorite to win, while Henderson is a huge +750 underdog. As the odds suggest, Henderson has a tall hill to climb.

Benson Henderson Explains MMA Comeback in PFL

Speaking to MMAFighting.com in a recent interview, Henderson explained why he is coming out of retirement at age 42 to fight in the PFL. According to “Smooth,” PFL matchmaker Mike Kogan kept texting him and asking him to fight again, and finally, Henderson agreed to do it.

“My man Mike Kogan, the head matchmaker for Bellator now the head matchmaker for PFL, great guy, I love him, he’s always done me right. But he texted me, he needled me a couple of times like ‘oh man, Henderson guys online are talking smack, saying this, saying that’ and I’m like people can say whatever, it’s cool, no big deal. They’re saying you don’t have it anymore. You lost your jiu-jitsu match and won one in boxing and lost one in boxing, you lost Karate Combat, it was a split decision, super close but you lost that one. I told him, I don’t care. People have been after me my whole career. I’ve done all right. People are allowed to have their opinion,” Henderson said.

“But he kept needling me a couple more times and then he texted me two days later and said ‘hey, I’ve got a matchup for you, Patrick Habirora, why don’t you remind the world who you are, what you did and what you can do. You know what? Sounds good, Kogan. I noticed what you did but sure, let’s do it. Let’s remind the world who I am and what I’ve done and how I do it. That sounds good to me.”

Henderson may have retired from MMA in 2023, but he kept competing, with two professional boxing matches in Misfits Boxing, where he went 1-1, and a decision loss to longtime nemesis Anthony Pettis in Karate Combat. He has also competed in grappling matches and wrestling matches. Training at The MMA Lab in Phoenix, Arizona, Henderson trains with some of the best fighters in the world, so he is confident that he will be able to make a successful comeback, even if the oddsmakers don’t like his chances to do so.

Patrick Habirora is a Rising Star

When Henderson returns at PFL Brussels, he takes on the 25-year-old Habirora, a Belgian native who is unbeaten with a perfect 8-0 pro MMA record, with seven wins coming by knockout. In the PFL, Habirora is 4-0, including back-to-back knockout wins over former UFC fighters Danny Roberts and Kevin Jousset in his last two fights.

On paper, this appears to be a setup fight for Habirora to defeat a UFC legend on his home soil. But it is a step in competition, and Henderson is notoriously tough, having only been knocked out twice in 42 career bouts. Therefore, it’s the perfect test for Habirora, because if he can finish Henderson, it will show he’s the real deal. And for Henderson, if he can upset the apple cart, it will remind all of the doubters why he was one of the greatest fighters of his era.