This Day in MMA History: July 16

Tachi Palace Fights’ inaugural event took place in Lemoore, California, on July 16, 2009. It was explicitly a transitional show, a passing of the baton from its predecessor at the Tachi Palace, Palace Fighting Championship, as indicated by the fact that the second TPF event was numbered “TPF 1.” Even the tag line, “Best of Both Worlds,” was a bridge between promotions, as it had been used for two previous PFC hybrid boxing/MMA events.

Historical footnotes aside, the five-fight MMA portion of the card is notable chiefly for being an early showcase for future Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes. Mendes, who was just 3-0 at the time with all three fights taking place in PFC, received a short-notice call to headline the show. He was booked against fellow future UFC fighter Steven Siler, who had emerged from his extremely raw early career to go on a nine-fight tear with nine finishes.

Siler’s streak came to a screeching halt that night, as Mendes leveled him with an overhand right, then swarmed for the finish in just 44 seconds. The win elevated Mendes’ stock even further, and in less than a year he was a force in, ironically enough, former Tachi mainstay World Extreme Cagefighting.