The main event of WSOF 21 is a five-round featherweight title bout between champion Lance Palmer and challenger Chris Horodecki. According to the current betting lines available at Several Bookmakers, Palmer is a -750 favorite (bet $750 to win $100) while Horodecki is a +450 underdog (bet $100 to win $450). MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened up Palmer at -705 and Horodecki at +435, and slight action has come in on Palmer. I think Palmer gets the finish in this fight to retain his title. Here’s why. Palmer (9-1) is the WSOF featherweight champion. The 27-year-old American comes from a wrestling background and it’s translated incredibly well to MMA so far, as he’s compiled a 2-1 record in WSOF including winning the title from Rick Glenn. Palmer trains at Team Alpha Male and is constantly improving all aspects of his game. We all know he has great wrestling, but his submission game has really improved as well. His striking isn’t great, but he can use it to set up takedowns which is his bread and butter. Outside of his loss to Georgi Karakhanyan, which he lost by submission, Palmer has been unbeatable to so far in MMA and I full expect that to continue when he takes on an overmatched Horodecki this weekend. Horodecki (21-5-1, 1 NC) is 1-0 in WSOF with a decision win over Luis Huete. The 27-year-old Canadian has been competing in MMA for a decade now, having fought his first pro MMA fight at 17 years of age. While he was one a star prospect, the damage has added up and he appears well beyond his age in fight years at this point. He is still a talented striker who has added some wrestling to his game, but he’s also highly beatable. He does not have a great chin and he has been finished by submission before as well. His only way to beat Palmer is to stop the takedowns and knock him out on the feet, but that appears to be too large a task to ask, and that’s why you see him enter this fight as a big underdog. I don’t think this fight is very competitive. I believe Palmer is a far superior mixed martial artist at this point in time and I expect him to get the finish on Horodecki within the 25 minutes. I could see Palmer either submitting Horodecki with a rear-naked choke or finishing him with by TKO (punches) on the ground as well, but either way I believe he uses his wrestling to get the fight to the mat and hurt Horodecki there. The line is pretty high, but it’s justified, so I say use Palmer in your parlay this weekend.
