Lance Palmer has already been invited to return for the second season if the Professional Fighters League (PFL) which looks to kick off in May. Palmer said he will return to his fight camp in March and that is not the only forward planning the featherweight champion is doing. Palmer changed his camp, improved his striking, and started thinking about life outside of fighting.
Speaking with The Chronicle, Palmer talked about his win on New Year’s Eve and how building a fight camp from a group of unknowns helped him evolve in the sport of mixed martial arts. “The coaches and corner men that I brought together during this season of PFL, those guys never worked together before that,” Palmer told The Chronicle. “Everybody usually just goes to a gym and uses the coaches that are there. I put these coaches together from all different parts of Las Vegas who had never interacted before.”
Palmer trains with his team at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and since the formula won him the PFL featherweight title and $1-million dollars, that is the team he will continue his MMA career with.
Palmer’s long term planning seems to look past MMA as he said while he is back home in Ohio, he will be preparing for life outside the cage. Combat sports can take its toll on an athlete and Palmer having had injuries and tasted defeat before, knows that the money will only last as long as his body can so he is already investing time in a second career.
Palmer turns 32 next month and it looks like he is giving himself three more years to make waves in the sport of MMA. “I’m giving myself until 35 right now in MMA,” Palmer said. “So I’m working on getting all my fire certifications done in Columbus so I have something to fall back on once I’m done fighting.” Palmer is not the only PFL fighter that has looked to switch into a career in emergency services. Rick Story had also begun the same path before giving it one last go in the PFL’s 2018 season. While he did not do as well as Palmer in 2018, he still had a plan for after fighting.
Palmer seems to have things figured out inside the cage and at home. If three more years is what Palmer is going to put in the sport, fighting for the PFL and staying a champion could net him another million dollars or two to pursue whatever he wants.
Do you think Palmer can bring home another million in 2019?
