Posted in

Ugly brawl ensues during ceremonials

Ugly brawl ensues during ceremonials



While
Professional Fighters League’s early
PFL Brussels weigh-ins proved relatively uneventful, the
ceremonials had a bit of a brouhaha.

Headlining the Belgian event is a welterweight fight between mixed
martial arts legend Benson
Henderson and undefeated rising star Patrick
Habirora. Both men had no issue making weight for the
five-round main event. There was also one late adjustment to the
card as Movsar
Ibragimov will no longer face Youssouf
Binate at bantamweight and will now take on Shane
Campbell in a 140-pound catchweight fight.

During the ceremonial weigh-ins, Khamzat
Abaev and Luca Poclit
squared off despite bad blood practically boiling over between the
two. Earlier in the week during the faceoffs, the welterweights
nearly engaged in fisticuffs. This time, former
fighter-turned-executive Dan Hardy
could not contain the two men, whose teams proceeded to clear the
proverbial benches and throw hands all across the stage. The status
of the bout is currently unclear.

Henderson (30-12) enters his latest fight at the tender age of 42.
The former Bellator MMA, Ultimate Fighting Championship and World
Extreme Cagefighting titleholder hasn’t fought since his 2023
defeat to Usman
Nurmagomedov. Prior to the setback, “Smooth” had shown he was
still dangerous with wins over Peter
Queally and Islam
Mamedov. The MMA Lab product weighed 171 pounds on the dot for
his first PFL fight.

An elite and
undefeated welterweight prospect headlines PFL Brussels against a
former UFC champ: Tune in Saturday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET on
ESPN2
.

The entire pro career of Habirora (8-0) has occurred since
Henderson last fought. The 25-year-old is coming off a trio of PFL
Europe wins, including a brutal knockout over Kevin
Jousset. Seven of his eight victories have come from violent
finishes, so “The Belgian Bomber” has definitely lived up to his
nickname. Habirora weighed 170.9 for the biggest fight of his
career.

PFL Brussels will air live on ESPN+ on Saturday. The main card
starts at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT, while the early card starts at 12:30
p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT.

PFL Brussels weigh-in results:

Patrick
Habirora (170.9) vs. Benson
Henderson (171)
Taylor
Lapilus (135.7) vs. Jake Hadley
(136)
Boris
Mbarga Atangana (184.6) vs. Jared
Gooden (184.9)
Marcirley
Alves (135.5) vs. Naoki Inoue
(135.5)
Asael
Adjoudj (145.9) vs. Keisuke
Sasu (145.3)
Donegi
Abena (205.5) vs. Joe
Schilling (204.9)
Baris
Adiguzel (136) vs. Gustavo
Oliveira (135.9)
Movsar
Ibragimov (139.5) vs. Shane
Campbell (TBD)
Khamzat
Abaev (170.4) vs. Luca Poclit
(170.9)
Adam
Meskini (145.8) vs. Keweny
Lopes (145.3)
Rustam
Serbiev (169) vs. Ashley
Reece (168)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *