By The Numbers: Lance Palmer

Mark RaymundoJan 16, 2019


Lance Palmer prefers to wrestle and strangle opponents into submission. The former World Series of Fighting champion has always relied heavily on his base skills, and his recent run in the 2018 Professional Fighters League playoffs was no exception. Palmer eliminated Max Coga and Andre Harrison to set up a rematch with Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Steven Siler -- a man he had beaten previously by decision -- in the final. Their second meeting yielded the same result, with Palmer walking away with a $1 million check.

As Palmer heads into 2019, here are some of the numbers that have come to define him:

150: Wins against only six defeats as a prep wrestler for St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, where he was a four-time state wrestling champion. In addition, Palmer won a national championship as a senior. His high school career was featured in the 2009 documentary “Pinned.”

4: Times an NCAA All-American. Palmer brought his dominant wrestling skills to the collegiate level, as he suited for Ohio State University. In his final year at the school, “The Party” became a Big Ten conference champion and an NCAA runner-up.

7: Consecutive victories to start his professional MMA career. Palmer made his debut in the Fight for Wrestling organization in Bakersfield, California, and followed that win with six more in different regional promotions. In 2013, he captured the Resurrection Fight Alliance featherweight championship with a split decision win over Jared Downing.

3: Times in which he fought for the WSOF featherweight title. After capturing the RFA belt, Palmer was signed by the WSOF and immediately pitted against Bellator MMA veteran Georgi Karakhanyan for the organization’s inaugural featherweight championship. He lost the match but was later awarded a second chance at the crown, which at that time was held by Rick Glenn. Palmer took and defended the title once before losing it to Alexandre Almeida. He recaptured the championship in a rematch, only to lose it to Andre Harrison.

8: Wins by submission, five of them by rear-naked choke. Palmer uses his rich wrestling background to dominate his opponents and, if the situation permits, lock in a submission. His victims include Glenn, Nick LoBosco, Chris Horodecki, Bekbulat Magomedov and Jumabieke Tuerxun.

4: First-round finishes to his credit. The four opponents he tapped out inside one round were LoBosco, Horodecki, Emilio Gonzales and Patrick Reeves.

30: Years of age. Palmer was born on Feb. 8, 1988 in Columbia Station, Ohio. He had been training with Team Alpha Male since he started his MMA career, but for the recently concluded PFL playoffs, Palmer moved to Las Vegas to train at Xtreme Couture.