Unbeaten Patrick Habirora squashes Benson Henderson in PFL Brussels headliner

Patrick Habirora showed no respect to one of his most accomplished elders. “The Belgian Bomber” stepped up his ascent in the Professional Fighters League and blew away onetime Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Benson Henderson with punches in the first round of their PFL Brussels welterweight main event on Saturday at ING Arena in Belgium. Henderson (30-13, 0-1 PFL) met his end just 20 seconds into Round 1 .

Habirora (9-0, 5-0 PFL) intercepted the MMA Lab cornerstone with a left hook and backed it up with a right hook that sent the John Crouch protégé into a nosedive. Prone and badly hurt, the 42-year-old Henderson ate a series of right hands before referee Mike Beltran could arrive on the scene to rescue him. Meanwhile, former Ares Fighting Championship and TKO Major League MMA titleholder Taylor Lapilus cruised to a clear-cut unanimous decision over Dana White’s Contender Series alum Jake Hadley in their three-round bantamweight co-headliner.

All three cageside judges turned in 30-27 scorecards for Lapilus. Related » PFL Brussels round-by-round scoring Nothing the game but outmatched Hadley tried worked. Lapilus (25-4, 4-0 PFL) battered the Englishman with sharp jabs, occasional multi-punch bursts and a few low kicks, all while refusing every one of his attempted takedowns.

Hadley (12-6, 1-2 PFL) gave into frustration and retreated to the butt scoot position more than once out of desperation, at which point the Frenchman snaked away into open space, hammered him with standing leg kicks and prompted restarts from the referee. Lapilus, 34, now finds himself on a six-fight winning streak. Further down the main draw, burgeoning Team Sendo star Boris Mbarga Atangana kept his perfect professional record intact and wasted little time in doing so, as he swept aside Jared Gooden with punches in the first round of their middleweight showcase.