With the PFL going dark all of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, two-time PFL featherweight tournament winner Lance Palmer (22-3) returns for the 2021 PFL season ready to go.
The man he faces is NCAA Division I champion and former Brave CF featherweight champion Bubba Jenkins. Palmer and Jenkins have somewhat of a storied past. The pair wrestled each other all the way back to their teenage years, and that carried over into college. In the Big Ten Championships back in 2008, Jenkins beat Palmer twice, something that Jenkins continues to hold over Palmer’s head.
It doesn’t seem matter to Palmer much.
“That was thirteen years ago, when we wrestled,” Palmer said during PFL 1 media day this week. “He beat me more times than I beat him that year; that’s basically all that it comes down to. That was 2008, so if he’s dwelling on 2008, then I hope so because this is a completely different sport, and I’m a completely different athlete than I was in 2008. I mean, there isn’t much to touch on there, we do have a history, so I guess that’s what he is trying to hang his hat on.”
Palmer is riding an 11-fight win streak going into his fight with Jenkins. He’s never been beaten under the Professional Fighters League banner, and sees Jenkins’ only path to victory as a knockout if he catches Palmer off his game.
“I feel like I’m going to finish him. I don’t know what round, I don’t care to care to make a prediction honestly but, um, I agree if he catches me and knocks me out is the only way he can win this fight,” Palmer said.
Watch the full PFL 1 2021 media day interview with Lance Palmer above. This year’s PFL 1 card takes place live in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Friday, April 23. The event airs on ESPN+ and ESPN 2.
