Jens Pulver
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Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of the Miletich Fighting Systems.
He stands 5 ft 7in (170cm) and weighs approximately 145lbs (66kg).
He is a former UFC lightweight champion and was a coach on The Ultimate Fighter Season 5. He currently fights as a featherweight (145 lbs.) for the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) organization.
Pre-UFC Career
Jens Pulver made his professional mixed martial arts debut on April 24, 1999 against Curtis Hill at the second Bas Rutten Invitational. He defeated Hill via TKO three minutes into the first round. He suffered his first professional defeat that night as well, losing to David Harris via toe hold submission in just under 12 minutes of the first round.
Pulver returned at the third Bas Rutten Invitational, winning the four man tournament in under 90 seconds, defeating future UFC title challenger and The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner, Joe Stevenson in the process.
Early UFC Career
Pulver made his UFC debut at UFC 22 on September 24th, 1999. He and his opponent, Alfonso Alcarez fought to a draw after two rounds.
Pulver racked up his first UFC victory a little under 6 months later, at UFC 24. He defeated David Velasquez with a TKO midway through the second round. Pulver decisioned Joao Roque at UFC 26 and then suffered his second professional loss in a smaller promotion to Din Thomas via heel hook submission.
After starting his UFC career with a respectable if not lacklustre 2-0-1 record, Pulver made waves at UFC 28 when he ended John Lewis' night with one of the more brutal knockouts in UFC history.
UFC Lightweight Title
The win over Lewis, earned Pulver a shot at the newly instated UFC lightweight championship in February of 2001. Pulver faced the more fancied, top-ranked Japanese fighter, Caol Uno. Pulver defeated Uno via unanimous decision to become the first ever, UFC lightweight champion.
In Pulver's first title defense he faced the dangerous submission artist, Dennis Hallman. Hallman was made famous for his two quick submission victories over future two-time UFC welterweight champion, Matt Hughes. After surviving a deep arm bar attempt early in the fight, Pulver negated Hallman's offense on the way to a unanimous decision victory for the champion.
Pulver's second title defense came against BJ Penn. Penn was considered by many at the time to be unbeatable due to his powerful and accurate stand-up which accompanied his World Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championship winning ground ability. Pulver was outmatched early with Penn securing a number of takedown attempts and even securing an arm bar before the second round bell went. Pulver weathered the early storm and turned the fight around, winning the next three rounds to successfully defend his title.
PRIDE FC
After his victory over Penn, Pulver vacated his UFC lightweight championship over a contractual dispute.
Pulver went 6-2 in his next eight fights on a variety of smaller shows from June, 2002 to September, 2004. He scored a unanimous decision win over Rob Emerson and knockout victories over the likes of Joe Jordan and Stephen Palling in that time while suffering (T)KO losses to Duane Ludwig and Jason Maxwell.
Pulver made his debut for PRIDE FC on their 2004 New Year Eve's show, "Shockwave 2004" against Takanori Gomi. Gomi defeated Pulver via KO in the first round in a very exciting fight.
Pulver bounced back from the Gomi defeat at PRIDE - Bushido 7 a little under five months later where he scored a one minute knockout victory over Tomomi Iwama. He suffered defeat once again, this time at the hands of Hayato Sakurai at Bushido 9 in September of 2005 via TKO in the first round. Pulver finished his PRIDE tenure with a vicious soccer kick knockout victory over Kenji Arai at PRIDE - Bushido 10.
Return to the UFC and The Ultimate Fighter
Jens Pulver made his return to the UFC in September of 2006 at UFC 63. He faced UFC newcomer Joe Lauzon who was a 7:1 underdog to beat Pulver. In what was one of the biggest upsets in MMA history at the time, Joe Lauzon defeated Jens Pulver via knockout at .48 of round 1 to spoil Pulver's UFC return.
After the loss to Lauzon, Pulver was given the oppurtunity to coach on The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 opposite old rival, BJ Penn. In conjunction with coaching against Penn on the show, Pulver would also face off with Penn in a rematch at The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale.
Penn defeated Pulver via rear naked choke midway through the second round after a very entertaining fight. After the fight, Pulver announced that he would be dropping a weight class to the more comfortable weight of 145 lbs.. Doing so would land him in the other ZUFFA run MMA promotion, World Extreme Cagefighting.
World Extreme Cagefighting
Now fighting in the featherweight division for the first time in years, Pulver faced up and coming fighter, Cub Swanson in his WEC debut. The bout was over quickly as Pulver submitted Swanson with a modified guillotine choke at 35 seconds of round 1.
The win over Swanson earned Pulver a shot at WEC gold as he faced off against WEC featherweight champion, Urijah Faber in June, 2008. In a fast paced bout that went the full five rounds, Faber controlled Pulver for the majority with surprising striking skills and takedowns. Faber was awarded the unanimous decision victory to retain his featherweight championship.
Pulver is next expected to face Leonard Garcia at November 5th's, WEC 36. The bout was originally slated for September 10th but was postponed due to fear over Hurricane Ike.
Mixed Martial Arts Record
| 32 matches | 22 wins | 9 losses |
| By knockout | 13 | 5 |
| By submission | 3 | 3 |
| By decision | 6 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | |
Gallery
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External links
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Jens-Pulver-228 - Professional MMA Record from Sherdog
--Sam Cupitt 17:01, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
