Lance Palmer Believes He Belongs in Conversation Regarding Sport’s Best Featherweights

Lance Palmer has established himself as the featherweight to beat in Professional Fighters League, that much is clear.

The Team Alpha Male representative is coming off back-to-back championships at 145 pounds in the PFL in 2018 and 2019. After a season off due to COVID-19 concerns, the 33-year-old Ohioan will return to defend his throne beginning on Friday against Bubba Jenkins. Despite that track record, Palmer doesn’t feel any added pressure heading into his third PFL campaign.

“I feel like the target on my back has been there since I was 10 years old in wrestling,” Palmer said during a PFL virtual media day. “I’m chasing my own goals and everybody just has to catch up to chase me. That’s the mentality that I have.”

The PFL has changed up much of its roster heading into 2021, so Palmer will be looking at a different 145-pound field than in years past. That, along with the ongoing COVID situation, which has created a bubble for PFL fighters, makes for a new set of challenges.

“I think each season has had its own significance,” Palmer said. “This would definitely be a great season to win, with the competition as well as the circumstances that we’re in…We’re in a unique scenario of seeing who can handle these situations.”

Palmer believes the break from taking a season off could actually prove to be beneficial to him.

“I honestly felt really good getting into camp right away,” he said. I don’t know if it was from a lot of the rest and not having to train through injuries and having the freedom to do whatever instead of getting ready for five fights in a row. I would say the biggest difference was being fresh…kind of like a clean slate coming in for this fight camp.”

Palmer, who was also a champ with World Series of Fighting before it rebranded to PFL, believes he belongs in the discussion when it comes to the world’s best featherweights. He acknowledged that he won’t get to prove that, since many of them — like Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway — compete for the UFC.

“I think so,” he said. “It’s hard because I don’t get to compete against any of those guys. You look at those guys and they’re in a promotion that has been around for a long time the competition is well known, the marketing is great and they have their own rankings system. I feel I’m in the conversation for best featherweight in the world.

“Until I get to face one of those people, that’s when i get to prove it. No matter how tough this roster is — pretty much everybody on this roster is high level — it’s not gonna prove that I’m the best featherweight in the world. The only way [people] think I’m the best is if I fight one of those guys and get to beat them.”