Lance Palmer secured his playoff spot and a higher seed at PFL 5 with a third-round stoppage over Luis Rafael Laurentino.
Lance Palmer has long been a PFL mainstay, and a WSOF standout well before that. In the league’s opening season, Palmer captured the featherweight title, and the million dollar prize. For the PFL’s 2019 season he was back, looking to repeat as champion. The next step in that quest came at PFL 5 2019, against Luis Rafael Laurentino on Thursday.
Not surprisingly, Palmer landed a takedown early in the fight. But Laurentino had the BJJ you’d expect from a high level Brazilian fighter. Palmer had to contend with a number of dangers, including a gogoplata attempt. However, he’d stay in control for the bulk of the round.
Laurentino tried some mind games in the second, with smiles, gestures, and the sort. Palmer would answer with a kick, to which Laurentino flashed a deadly looking spinning kick. A kick for Laurentino was caught, and Palmer turned it into a takedown, and he’s the type of fighter who only needs one. Palmer was going to the body steadily with ground-and-pound as Laurentino held rubber guard. The season one champion broke free and nearly passed, but a slick roll from Laurentino kept the fight in guard. Palmer was happy to stay in guard for the remainder of the round.
A missed head kick early in round three gave Palmer the window he needed to get a takedown. This time, he passed guard almost immediately to get into side control. Laurentino rolled to all fours, giving Palmer back control, then full mount. The blows started raining down from “The Party” and Laurentino had no escape. As Palmer flatted out Laurentino, who had rolled to his stomach, the fight was stopped.
Lance Palmer def. Luis Rafael Laurentino by TKO (Ground-and-Pound) in Round 3 (2:45)
