It was the first major meeting of Patrick Habirora’s career. Unanimously recognized as a future giant of MMA, the former amateur world champion underwent a life-size test this Saturday at PFL Lyon against Kevin Jousset. A former UFC fighter, a super-powerful ex-judoka and perfectly trained with the stars of the discipline in Australia, whom the Belgian finally mastered with disconcerting ease.
Under the eyes of Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar and after the traditional slaps from his coach Tarek Bensaidane to motivate him, Patrick Habirora only needed three minutes to end the duel. A left hook first sent the Frenchman to the mat, before a rain of blows and a final right fist put Kevin Jousset to sleep. A prestigious victory which could open the doors to the UFC for him.
“He said he was never knocked out, who knocked him out now? »
The Belgian was therefore entitled to the “10 seconds of pure adrenaline” that he spoke to us about before the fight. “You feel like you’re not even in your body anymore,” he assures. The whole audience holds their breath, suddenly everyone is shouting, you realize that you have won, you think about your training, it’s a mixture of lots of things that mean that you are not totally aware and in control of yourself. But at the same time, you feel more alive than ever. »
In heaven, Patrick Habirora enjoyed his 3rd consecutive victory in the first round. “I’m not the type of person who lacks respect but he did it a lot during this preparation, he took me for a lot petit, he recalled. He said he had never been knocked out, who knocked him out now? » Now at 8-0 in his career, the Belgian demanded a fight for the PFL belt. Before, perhaps, dreaming bigger.
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