Benson Henderson is set to compete in the PFL smart cage next month, a development that has amused one of his former teammates. The seasoned fighter, a former lightweight champion in both WEC and UFC, will face Patrick Habirora on May 23, 2026, at the ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium, as part of the Professional Fighters League event.
James Nakashima, a former ONE Championship competitor and ex-training partner of Henderson’s, recently secured the Unified MMA lightweight championship in Canada. When questioned about Henderson’s upcoming PFL bout and his thoughts on ‘Smooth’ facing the undefeated and rising prospect Habirora, Nakashima shared his perspective:
“No, I don’t; I rarely get on social media. So I didn’t know. Me and Benson don’t ever contact. I love Benson, but we were just friends in the practice room. That was it. It didn’t go on beyond any of that. So, I hardly only stay in contact with a couple people from The [MMA] Lab, but Benson’s he’s; fighters don’t ever retire. I guess that’s kind of what I’ve heard and that’s funny.”
Nakashima further elaborated on Henderson being a prime example of fighters’ difficulty in fully stepping away from the sport. He commented:
“I don’t know. I just feel like fighters never retire. As long as they keep calling and Benson’s training. Benson, for any one workout, Benson will train as hard as; he can go as deep and as in the water as anybody, anyone. Benson’s a dog. So that’s cool to hear that he’s fighting again. Like I said, that’s funny because I always think that’s funny whenever fighters say that they retire and I don’t know, they always come back.”