In a short-notice featherweight quarterfinal fight against old foe Alexandre Almeida at PFL 8 2019, Lance Palmer controlled the action to cruise to a unanimous decision.
Quarterfinal action in the featherweight division kicked off the PFL 8 2019 card on Thursday. The promotion’s second of three shows at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, it was lightweights and featherweights in the spotlight this time out. Opening the card, Lance Palmer was supposed to take on Gadzhi Rabadanov, a match-up between the first and eighth seeds, respectively.
However, with Rabadanov unable to make weight, Alexandre Almeida stepped in to take his place. Incredibly, he and Palmer had fought twice before, swapping the WSOF featherweight title between them back in 2015-2016. The two-round quarterfinal would serve as a trilogy fight, with the winner fighting in the semifinals later in the night.
Palmer took center in the night’s opening fight, with Almeida on the outside. Flipping the script, Almeida opted to take down Palmer, landing an attempt early. However, in moments Palmer had moved to the top and was working from guard. He had plenty of time to work inside the closed guard of Almeida, and would spend the remainder of the round there, adding shots to the body and head while defending submissions.
In the second, Palmer dropped Almeida early, targeting the body then putting him down with a punch upstairs. Palmer then moved into guard, again firing punches to the body. This time out, Almeida was simply tying up Palmer, not very active from the bottom at all. He’d make it back to the fence, close his guard, and never make it to the feet. Palmer, frankly, was able to cruise to victory in this one. Especially given Almeida’s strikes were in the single digits.
Palmer will move on to face the winner of Harrison vs. Gilpin later in the evening.
Official Result: Lance Palmer def. Alexandre Alemeida by unanimous decision (20-17, 20-18, 20-18)
