Benson Henderson may have retired from MMA in 2023 but he never stopped competing.
Whether that was boxing in Misfits, throwing down in Karate Combat or even taking a freestyle wrestling match in RAF, the now 42-year-old veteran was as active as any fighter but he just wasn’t doing MMA any longer. But when the PFL reached out to him about potentially returning for a showdown against rising star Patrick Habirora at the upcoming card in Brussels on Saturday, he was initially hesitant to accept until
one executive just kept after him about making a comeback.
“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,” Henderson explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “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.
“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 inked the deal for the main event matchup but unlike many fighters in a similar position, he never truly stepped away from the sport.
He was always coaching at his gym, The MMA Lab in Arizona, and he stayed plenty active with all of his other competitions. So technically he’s fighting for the first time in three years but Henderson was still battling it out with veterans, prospects and anyone in between on almost a daily basis at the gym.
“Since the day I retired, I was back in the gym the next week, on the mats training again,” Henderson said. “Our whole thing at The MMA Lab is being the hardest working gym in the world. You guys want to be the prettiest [gym]. You guys want to be the loudest on social media? You want to be the stoner gym? Be the stoner gym. My gym? We’re going to be the hardest working gym in the world.
“We’re always right back. We fight on Saturdays and back in the gym on Monday working to get better, win or lose, it doesn’t matter. So I lost my fight against Usman [Nurmagomedov], I was back in the gym on Monday, working on getting better. I never stopped. I never stopped training.”
Right now, Henderson is just days away from his main event spot at PFL Brussels and he doesn’t want to think too far beyond that but he’s not closing the door on fighting again.
A big part in his initial retirement was allowing his wife the time she needed to focus on her own fighting career after she was by his side for so many years while Henderson was competing in the UFC and Bellator.
Unfortunately, injuries and time off have slowed down his wife’s career and when this opportunity to return in PFL came along, Henderson obviously accepted.
That’s why Henderson is taking a wait and see approach but there’s a good chance his comeback continues beyond this one fight on Saturday.
“For me, my mindset, 100% I’m just focused on Patrick,” Henderson said. “He’s a good up and comer. He has a lot of potential. I think it’s a little bit early for him to fight someone of my experience level but his coaches are very confident. They think he’s ready for that big step up, for that big test and we’ll find out this Saturday, May 23.
“My mindset after I beat Patrick, after the referee pulls me off of him, my mindset is more along the lines of whatever comes. It was a three fight deal with PFL but I’m not itching to fight this guy or that guy. I’m not looking to get another belt around my waist. I’m not looking to add anymore to that. I’ll take it a fight at a time but after I beat up Patrick, he’s ranked somewhere in those rankings, if they offer me something after, that, sure no problem. I’m open to it. I like to compete. I will compete until my body won’t allow me anymore.”
