Lance Palmer and Movlid Khaybulaev met in a high-stakes battle on Friday to earn a playoff spot and keep their 2021 PFL season alive.
Two-time PFL featherweight champion [autotag]Lance Palmer[/autotag] was eliminated from the 2021 season on Friday after failing to finish [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag].
In Friday’s bout to finalize the featherweight playoffs bracket, Palmer needed to record a finish before the end of the second round in order to advance, but Khaybulaev didn’t let that happen.
Palmer (22-5) dropped his season opener to Bubba Jenkins by unanimous decision at 2021 PFL 1, whereas Khaybulaev (17-0-1) won against Lazar Stojadinovic by unanimous decision that same evening to earn three points.
2021 PFL 6 took place at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The main card aired on ESPN2 following prelims on ESPN+.
The first round started off methodically, with both fighters trying to find the range without leaving openings for counters. As the round wore on, both men began to let the strikes fly a little more frequently. Khaybulaev landed a nice lunging left hook on Palmer for one of the best strikes of the opening round.
Khaybulaev switched up the plan of attack early in the second round as he quickly secured a takedown on Palmer. Knowing the playoff window was closing quickly, Palmer did everything he could to stifle the heavy wrestling attack of his opponent. With just over a minute remaining, he was able to separate from Khaybulaev and he began to throw heavy left-hand strikes.
Palmer couldn’t land a punch to hurt his opponent and his playoff hopes were ended as the round concluded.
While the playoffs were no longer an option for Palmer, winning the fight was still a possibility, but he would need a statement third round.
Khaybulaev would have his say on how the final round would play out as he stayed patient and landed a nice flurry midway through. In the closing moments of the round, Palmer landed a nice left hand to get his opponent’s attention, but the Russian was able to prevent any further damage before the fight concluded.
The judges scored the bout in favor of Khaybulaev unanimously with matching scores of 29-28.
The third and fourth seeds of the featherweight bracket have come down to Khaybulaev and Bubba Jenkins, who are tied in the featherweight standings. A coin flip will determine their placement to finalize the bracket.
Up-to-the-minute results of 2021 PFL 6 are below:
- Movlid Khaybulaev def. Lance Palmer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Denis Goltsov def. Brandon Sayles via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:24
- Bruno Cappelozza def. Muhammed DeReese via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:21
- Larissa Pacheco def. Helena Kolesnyk via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:48
- Ante Delija def. Chandler Cole via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:39
- Genah Fabian def. Julija Pajic via TKO (Punches) – Round 2, 4:16
- Renan Ferreira def. Carl Seumanutafa via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Taylor Guardado def. Laura Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mariana Morais def. Kaitlin Young via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jamelle Jones def. Klidson Abreu via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:43
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