PFL 2 results: Defending champ Lance Palmer picks up where he left off with Season 2 win

Mark Lelinwalla

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PFL 2 results: Defending champ Lance Palmer picks up where he left off with Season 2 win image

UNIONDALE, N.Y. —  "The Party" wants another celebration.

After winning the Professional Fighters League's inaugural season and pocketing a cool $1 million last year, Lance "The Party" Palmer scored a unanimous victory over Alex Gilpin at PFL 2 of Season 2 on Thursday night at NYCB Live at Nassau Coliseum and live on ESPN+. Judges scored the bout 30-27 across the board — as did Sporting News — as Palmer picked up three points to kick off his new season.

The win put the featherweight division on notice that Palmer is hungry for another $1 million, even though he wasn't too happy about the way he recorded his victory.

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"I'm not super happy with it, but (Gilpin is) a tough opponent," Palmer said during his postfight interview in the cage. "Getting the win, I was OK with, but I wanted the finish."

"I know the power is there. It's just about setting it up better," he added. "The wrestling is always going to be there."

Palmer dominated the action by dropping Gilpin with his striking and smothering him on the ground. He ended the bout on top of his game challenger and scoring with short punches to the face. With the exception of a big takedown by Gilpin at the end of the second round, the defending featherweight champion never really found himself in any trouble to open his second PFL season.

Palmer dropped Gilpin with heavy hands in the first round and tried jumping on him to add to the pain and possibly finish the contest early, but the challenger was able to wriggle free from the champ. 

Gilpin had a delayed reaction before falling to Palmer's short right hand in the second, but he managed to end the round with that big takedown in the final second.

It was essentially the only impactful offense that Palmer allowed Gilpin to muster, as the veteran showed plenty of guile on his way to the dominant victory and improved to 6-0 in the PFL and 18-3 overall.

Here's how the rest of PFL 2 went.

Co-main event: Chris Wade gets past Nate Andrews by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to take three points; lightweights

Chris Wade-Nate Andrews

There were moments in his PFL Season 2 opener that certainly tested Wade's mettle. Each time, he came up with a creative answer.

Andrews threatened a guillotine choke late in the second round, only for Wade to push his way out of it to the delight of the Rockville Centre, N.Y., native’s hometown crowd. He also ate a stinging left hand early in the third and had his back taken later in the round.

Still, Wade remained patient and somehow managed to wriggle his body free and take Andrews’ back to trap him in a rear-naked choke that he cinched in tightly. A game Andrews used some short punches to break the hold and wound up threatening a rear-naked choke of his own close to the end of the fight. Judges saw most of the action go Wade’s way, though, and gave him the hard-fought nod.

Wade reached the semifinals of last year's lightweight playoffs before losing to eventual champion Natan Schulte.

Andre Harrison smothers Peter Petties on the ground for unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) to garner three points; featherweights

Harrison made sure Petties mirrored the song title he chose for his cage entrance — Cam’ron’s "Down and Out." The Freeport, N.Y., native bottled up Petties' Wu-Tang Shaolin striking style by taking him down three times and grinding him out via his smothering wrestling.

When Petties was able to let his hands and feet go freely early in the third round, his efforts didn’t last long. Harrison took him down for the third time, grinded him out and threatened a submission during the waning seconds of the fight to earn the decision.

Harrison made it to the semifinals of the featherweight playoffs last season, so this was a solid way to start his second PFL campaign.

“Here’s your quote," he said in the cage following his victory, "I’m going to win this whole damn thing.”
 

Akhmed Aliev blasts Carlao Silva for first-round TKO (punches) to grab six points; lightweights

Aliev and Silva swung at the same time about midway through the first round, but Aliev’s overhand right connected flush on Silva’s jaw while the Brazilian’s left hand barely scraped the Russian across his face. Silva fell with a thud and Aliev rushed him with a short left that kept him on the canvas, before tacking on a couple more short punches to earn the stoppage.

That was definitely a statement victory for Aliev.

Islam Mamedov def. Ylies Djiroun via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) to collect three points; lightweights

Mamedov did enough to edge his competition in this hard-fought bout.

After the victory, Mamedov admitted he was content with the three points after an arduous training camp. "It was hard for me to train because of Ramadan," he said, referring to the Muslim holy month that requires daytime fasting, during his postfight victory in the cage. "This was a very hard fight. I’m thankful to come out with three points."

Rashid Magomedov def. Loik Radzhabov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) to earn three points; lightweights

Think Magomedov is eager to return to the lightweight final and win it this time? The 2018 lightweight runner-up responded to champion Natan Schulte's six-point submission in his PFL season debut by controlling the pace against Radzhabov and picking up a three-point decision in his 2019 season debut.

Look who’s here to watch the action — none other than WWE Hall of Famer and Long Island native Mick Foley.

On the mic announcing all the fighters' cage entrances and results is Lilian Garcia, former WWE ring announcer.

Earlier results on ESPN2

  • Natan Schulte def. Bao Yincang via first-round submission (rear-naked choke) to collect six points; lightweights
  • Luis Rafael Laurentino def. Jeremy Kennedy by first-round TKO (punches) to earn six points; featherweights
  • Movlid Khaybulaev def. Damon Jackson via first-round KO (flying knee — fastest stoppage in PFL history) to collect six points; featherweights
  • Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Steven Siler by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) to earn three points; featherweights

Mark Lelinwalla

Mark Lelinwalla Photo

Mark Lelinwalla is a contributing writer and editor for DAZN News. He has written for the likes of the New York Daily News, Men's Health, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Complex, XXL and Vibe Magazine.