Provo’s Steven Siler Falls Short Of PFL Featherweight Championship
Dec 31, 2018, 6:34 PM | Updated: Jan 5, 2019, 3:32 pm
(Ryan Loco/PFL)
(Ryan Loco/PFL)
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – Provo native Steven Siler faced Lance Palmer for the Professional Fighters League Featherweight Championship and $1 million at Madison Square Garden. Palmer won the fight via unanimous decision.
Even though Siler didn’t take home the $1 million, he received a $200,000 consolation prize.
It was a rematch between the two fighters from 13 months ago but Siler couldn’t get revenge with Palmer picking up a unanimous win after five rounds.
First Round
The first three minutes of the first round was Siler defending kicks and punches from Palmer with just three strikes landed by Siler.
(Ryan Loco/PFL)
The Provo native picked up the pace after he got up from a takedown towards the end of the round as he was landing some clean jabs and high kicks. It was a close but Palmer picked up the first round.
Second Round
Midway through the second round after some exchanges of strikes, Palmer picked up his second takedown and the Siler spent the next minute getting back up to his feet.
(Ryan Loco/PFL)
Siler landed on his back once again in the final minute of the round but was looking for a submission on Palmer. The second round ended with Palmer likely picking up his second round on the judges scorecard.
Third Round
The third round started with Siler blocking a head kick attempt by Palmer. He was aggressive with some combination punches when Palmer took the fight to the ground again.
When Siler tried to get up, Palmer hopped on his back in an attempt to submit Siler via rear naked choke but not a lot of activity between the two fighters in that position.
(Ryan Loco/PFL)
Siler was able to get Palmer off of his back and the fight was standing again. After some aggressive combinations from Siler, Palmer immediately took the fight back to the ground. Siler spent the rest of the third round on his back. Palmer likely has three rounds to his name.
Fourth Round
The two fighters circled around the cage for 90 seconds when Palmer picked up his sixth takedown of the fight. For the next three minutes, the two fighters were fighting for the advantage on the ground.
Palmer started landing some strikes to the upper body of Siler to end the fourth round. Siler has to finish the fight by submission or knockout to win the bout.
Fifth Round
The final round started with Palmer attempting his seventh takedown, two different times and Siler defending both attempts.
The third attempt of the round to takedown Siler landed by Palmer with over three minutes left in the fight. The veteran MMA fighter tried to get some submission attempts while on his back but wasn’t able to connect.
Palmer landed a bunch of jabs to Siler’s head before he changed positions on the ground. Palmer continued to be active with his hands on the ground as the fight had one minute left.
(Ryan Loco/PFL)
The final seconds of the fight was on the ground and Palmer picked up the win, $1 million and the PFL Featherweight Championship.
Siler lost just his 18th bout of his MMA career with a 32-18-1 overall and 3-1-1 PFL record. Palmer improved to 18-3 and a 5-0-0 record in the PFL.
