Third time's the charm: Riley Palmer and Hunter Starner finally face off at Friday's CFFC 138
Talented bantamweights had two previous meetings scratched, now collide at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
Former CFFC NextGen bantamweight champion Riley Palmer and four-time CFFC veteran Hunter Starner have been on a collision course for a full year at this point, and on Friday, the highly anticipated matchup finally comes to fruition.
It was a Palmer injury that scrapped an initial planned meeting in December 2023, while Starner was the one forced to withdraw from a rescheduled August clash. But now that the difficulties are in the rearview mirror, Palmer believes it will be worth the wait when the pair steps into the cage on the main card of CFFC 138, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from New Jersey's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
"Obviously, my opponent broke his hand – I got hurt the first time, so I'm just happy that we were able to make this happen," Palmer said. "This is the third time. You guys are in for a good show, too. We've had three camps for each other at this point, so you're definitely going to want to see this one."
In between those two planned appearances, Palmer picked up a decision win over a dangerous Matt Hammerstone and wasn't really sure if he would ever end up crossing paths with Starner or not.
"After the second time, I was like, 'Is this just not going to happen? I'm not going to fight this kid,'" Palmer admitted. "But now I'm happy we were able to figure it out and make it happen."
Training at the famed American Top Team headquarters in Coconut Creek, Florida, Palmer has access to some of the top coaches in the sport – including the likes of Mike Brown and Thiago Alves – to help adjust his approach to the matchup. But after preparing two previous times for the meeting, the undefeated prospect felt there wasn't a lot of change to implement this time around.
"I've already watched his film countless times," Palmer said. "Obviously, we still do the same thing – look at his tendencies, look at what he likes to do. I've been working with a lot of southpaws, and I know he switches a little bit, but he more so is offensive from southpaw, so I've been doing a little bit of everything.
"The gameplan hasn't changed. If anything, I've been just critiquing my skills, working on my striking – that kind of same stuff, honestly."
Palmer's pedigree is clear. At 7-0 in his combined professional and amateur runs under the CFFC banner, not to mention a submission win at a FURY Professional Grappling event, he appears to be very much a top prospect with an eye on the sport's highest stage.
Meanwhile, Starner has endured a couple of frustrating setbacks thus far in his professional career but has earned the respect of his peers with game efforts every time out and is clearly not to be taken lightly.
Palmer knows there's a challenge ahead but is excited about his own chances to showcase the skills he continued to develop as he waited for this contest to materialize.
"I think it's going to be very interesting," Palmer said. "I still think that I'll be able to dominate and get a finish, but it's going to be really interesting to see. I don't think he really has much to go off of to prepare for me.
"What – he's going to think I'm just some one-dimensional wrestler? You haven't seen any of my striking, and you haven't seen what I'm actually capable of. Nobody has, so he's going to have a harder time preparing for me than I am for him."
So after two previous planned meetings fell by the wayside, the two talented bantamweight prospects will finally get to lock horns on Friday. If Palmer's evaluations of the contest are correct, it might just steal the show.
"Tune in and watch me go to work on December 13," Palmer said. "I think you guys are in for a show. You're not going to want to miss this. We've had so much preparation, so I think it's going to be a really fun fight."
