KEARNEY, Nebraska — Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) announced this morning that it has signed four-time NCAA Division I All-American turned undefeated MMA fighter Lance Palmer to a 3-fight deal. This is a big signing for the RFA, which is getting set to host its third event on Saturday, June 30th.
As for Palmer, this completes an exciting year for the talented Ohio State alum. Last May, Palmer made his highly-anticipated MMA debut after teaming up with fellow wrestler turned fighters Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, and the rest of Team Alplah Male in Sacramento, California.
Palmer’s MMA debut came about one year after he graduated from Ohio State. After graduation, he had worked as an assistant wrestling coach at Virginia Tech during the wrestling season to make some money, but spent the Christmas break training with Team Alpha Male and then immediately returned to Sacramento once the wrestling season had ended.
His MMA debut at Fight For Wrestling 3 – "Back in Bakersfield" came 14 months after he earned a fourth consecutive All-American honors in wrestling at Ohio State. Despite experiencing a great deal of success in high school and collegiate wrestling, Palmer’s motivation to succeed in MMA is fueled by the fact that he, like his Team Alpha Male teammate Mendes, lost his final college wrestling match in the NCAA finals.
The narrow 3-2 loss came against his rival Brent Metcalf from the University of Iowa, who Palmer had just beaten a few weeks earlier in the Big Ten finals. Coincidentally, Metcalf will be participating in the 2012 Olympic Team Wrestling Trials this weekend. Palmer, however, has different goals in mind.
Since winning his MMA debut last May with a first round submission, the blue chip featherweight prospect Palmer has strung together two more victories. While the first two wins were part of the "Fight For Wrestling" promotion that saw proceeds help support college wrestling programs that have lost substantial funding, he decided to take his game to the next level in 2012.
Palmer’s third fight came at the end of February in Showdown Fights, which is one of Utah’s premier MMA organizations. The event was streamed live on Web PPV via GFL.tv and Palmer showed that he is more than ready for the bigger stage. He submitted Jordan Chandler via Arm-Triangle Choke in the second round.
Two weeks after the win, Palmer joined Urijah Faber’s coaching staff on The Ultimate Fighter 15, which is currently filming live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Faber has stated that Team Alpha Male: Vegas has been set-up for this season, not only to help his team that is competing on the show, but to help fighters like himself and Palmer who have big fights they need to train for while filming the show.
While Faber is now set to face his arch-enemy Dominick Cruz for the UFC bantamweight title in their heavily promoted rubber match in July, Palmer will be getting ready for the biggest step up in his own career as he prepares for his RFA debut at the end of June.
Signing with the RFA will allow Palmer to fight in front of an even bigger audience, while also giving him the experience of fighting on the same card as MMA stars Maurice Smith and Joe Stevenson, as well as fellow collegiate wrestling stars Bubba Jenkins and T.J. Hepburn.
Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) was founded in 2011 and includes a number of prominent businessmen, fight promoters, matchmakers, and others with successful careers in hosting Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) shows across the United States. To learn more, check out their website at www.RFAfighting.com.