PFL Rankings Update After PFL Africa 2: Habirora Leads Weekly Surge
PFL Africa 2 came to Lagos, Nigeria on June 13 with 13 fights at Eko Convention Center. Ignacio Campos submitted Wasi Adeshina in 1:45 of the first round to take the featherweight headliner, Patrick Ocheme knocked out Ayinda Octave in the lightweight quarterfinal, and Karim Henniène submitted Thimna Mhlauli in bantamweight. The Africa series card feeds into PFL's weekly ranking update, which also captures results from PFL Brussels and other recent events in the 2026 season.
Biggest Movers
| Fighter | Division | Old Rank | New Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Habirora | Welterweight | 8 | 5 | +3 |
| Mitchell McKee | Bantamweight | 4 | 2 | +2 |
| Thad Jean | Welterweight | 5 | 3 | +2 |
| Boris Mbarga Atangana | Middleweight | 7 | 5 | +2 |
| Asaël Adjoudj | Featherweight | 9 | 7 | +2 |
| Raufeon Stots | Bantamweight | 3 | 5 | -2 |
| Taylor Lapilus | Bantamweight | 5 | 4 | +1 |
| Salamat Isbulaev | Featherweight | 5 | 4 | +1 |
Habirora Rockets Up Welterweight
Patrick "The Belgian Bomber" Habirora is the story of this week's update. The 9-0 Belgian welterweight main-evented PFL Brussels on May 23 and knocked out Benson Henderson in 20 seconds with a leaping left hook. Henderson is a former world champion with 30 fights on his résumé. The knockout — one of the most emphatic finishes in the 2026 PFL season — drove a three-spot jump from #8 to #5.
Habirora is 25 years old and 9-0 with nearly every win by knockout. He is now the fifth-ranked welterweight in PFL.
The division has a bigger story running in parallel: Thad Jean (10-0) rises from #5 to #3 this week. Jean won the 2025 PFL welterweight tournament and is scheduled to face Shamil Musaev for the vacant welterweight title at PFL D.C. on July 25. Jean's ranking move reflects both his tournament win last year and his position as the division's title-fight front-runner.
With Jean locked in for gold and Habirora charging from below, welterweight is one of the more interesting divisions in the organization heading into the second half of the season.
Bantamweight Reshuffles
The bantamweight division had the most movement of any weight class this week.
Mitchell McKee (10-0, "Merciless") rose from #4 to #2. McKee main-evented PFL Chicago in April and dominated former champion Sergio Pettis across three rounds, winning by unanimous decision. The win moved the undefeated prospect into the top two. Sergio Pettis remains at #1 — PFL's points-based system rewards cumulative season performance — but McKee's rise to #2 after beating the #1-ranked fighter sets up a question the division will need to answer.
Raufeon Stots (21-4) dropped from #3 to #5. Stots faced Renat Khavalov at PFL Chicago in April. Khavalov is unbeaten and fights out of Team Khabib; the result drove Stots' two-place drop. Stots remains a former world champion with a strong record, but the loss to an undefeated contender has shifted his standing. Taylor Lapilus (25-4, ranked up from #5 to #4) moves closer to the top on the back of his unanimous decision win over Jake Hadley at PFL Brussels.
Middleweight and Featherweight
Boris Mbarga Atangana (9-0) rose from #7 to #5 in middleweight. Atangana finished Jared Gooden in Round 1 at PFL Brussels. The undefeated Cameroonian has been active and finishing fights; the move puts him within range of the top four in a division where champion Costello van Steenis holds the title.
Asaël Adjoudj (11-1) jumped from #9 to #7 in featherweight following a head kick knockout of Keisuke Sasu at PFL Brussels. Adjoudj now sits two places outside the top five; if the finishing momentum continues, a top-five move is within reach.
PFL Africa 2 and the Continent's Role
PFL Africa 2 in Lagos added 13 fights to the 2026 season ledger. The Africa series has become a reliable source of PFL competition; results from the Lagos card will feed into future ranking cycles as the season moves toward playoffs. Campos, Ocheme, and Henniène each won on the Nigeria card and each builds into the PFL's broader competitive picture.
What to Watch
July 25 at PFL D.C. — Jean vs. Musaev for the vacant welterweight title — is the clearest near-term milestone for the division. Both men are in the top three and undefeated. The winner becomes champion in a division where Habirora is rapidly building his case.
At bantamweight, the gap between the #1 and #2 fighters has a rematch or divisional reshuffle written all over it. McKee beat Pettis; Pettis still holds the top spot on cumulative points. That is a ranking situation that resolves itself eventually.