Joe Schilling returned to MMA at PFL Brussels, but the comeback ended in the kind of cage confusion that makes everyone check the rulebook twice.
Schilling faced Donegi Abena on Saturday in Brussels, Belgium. Early in the first round, Abena attempted an illegal headbutt from top position. Referee Mike Beltran stopped the action, deducted a point from Abena, and tried to restart the fight. Schilling was furious and repeatedly made it clear he did not want to continue.
The official result went to Abena by TKO because Schilling was ruled as not wanting to continue. The clock had been stopped at 37 seconds when the foul sequence began.
Schilling could be heard yelling after the foul:
“F*ck this motherf*cker! F*ck that! Headbutts?”
Watch the sequence below:
😱 C'EST DU JAMAIS VU !
Joe Schilling met fin au combat après avoir pris un coup de tête de son adversaire, parce qu'il n'est pas d'accord avec la position pour reprendre l'action ! pic.twitter.com/hggZdvQlsU
— RMC Sport Combat (@RMCSportCombat) May 23, 2026
Schilling Objected To The Restart Position
Beltran separated the fighters and took a point from Abena, but the reset did not calm things down. When the bout was set to resume with Abena still on top, Schilling objected to being placed back in what he saw as a compromised position after the foul.
Schilling told Beltran:
“No, no. He f*cking fouled and now you’re going to give me a bad position? Fight’s over. Hey, stop the fight. Stop the fight.”
A second clip of the moment circulated as the finish started making the rounds online:
Joe Schilling Get sHeadbutted And Wants The Fight To End.
Bro Just Came For The Pay Day Lmao Saved Himself From Getting KO'D 🤣 pic.twitter.com/tN58IgtpRv
— Shmoo😎 (@lil_shmoo) May 23, 2026
Beltran eventually waved it off after Schilling kept signaling that he was finished. PFL later posted the official result from the fight.
Donegi Abena takes the win over Joe Schilling.#PFLBrussels | Prelims LIVE NOW | Main Card 3PM ET on the ESPN App pic.twitter.com/HOumat4KQX
— PFL (@PFLMMA) May 23, 2026
Schilling, 42, is best known for his kickboxing and Muay Thai career. He previously won the WBC Muay Thai interim light heavyweight title and also fought under the Bellator banner. Saturday marked his first MMA bout since 2019.
The loss drops Schilling to 4-7 in MMA. Abena gets the win, but this was not exactly a clean breakthrough. A foul, a point deduction, a restart dispute, and a stoppage for refusing to continue made this one of the strangest MMA endings of the weekend.
