Yardbarker: Jens Pulver

WEC 36 Postponed to November due to Hurricane Ike

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:41:08 -0500

WEC 36 scheduled for next Wednesday, September 10th has been postponed to November 5th due to the risks involved with Hurricane Ike potentially hitting Florida in the middle of next week. To read more, click here: http://www.cageplay.com/blog/2008/09/05/wec-36-postponed-to-november-due-to-hurricane-ike/

Viewing Guide : Big Fights of September 2008

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:33:23 -0500

August was a little slow, probably due to the Olympics, but September brings us an insane number of big fight events, including Joel Casamayor vs. Juan Manuel Marquez (boxing) and UFC 88 featuring Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans and WEC 36 featuring Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown (MMA)!

Jens Pulver vs Leonard Garcia Video- WEC 36 Preview

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:32:41 -0500

Jens Pulver vs Leonard Garcia Video- WEC 36 Preview

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:32:41 -0500

America's MMA Preview Should Have Been the WEC

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:07:45 -0500

What would everyone be saying today if the first ever nationally televised MMA event would have been the WEC? Would everyone be praising it as a huge success and a defining moment in the rise of MMA? Yea, I think so. Instead we got the EliteXC joke put on by CBS. Don't forget that CBS had final say in all aspect of the broadcast. That's one reason why you haven't seen the UFC or WEC on national TV. True MMA fans can watch the CBS debacle and know what is going down. What about the viewers that were tuning in to watch their first ever MMA event? I wonder what they're thinking today? WWE...WWE....WWE....WWE....WWE...WWE....that's what they're thinking. Why wouldn't they? Pyro entrances, dancing strippers, Phil Baroni making a fool of himself, bad officiating, fighters not making weight, Kimbo Slice.

One of the things I've always liked about MMA events is the constant fights. Within five minutes of the WEC broadcast there was a fight. It took 30 minutes for EliteCBS to show their first bout. I also love they way the fighters enter the cage through the crowd on WEC/UFC. I don't need the pyro and dancing strippers and Baroni getting his shirt torn off. That is stupid. MMA sells it's self and doesn't need the flash. What about the quality of fights? Not even close, WEC wins this one hands down. Miguel Torres Vs. Yoshiro Maeda was an instant classic and a better fight with a better ending than Robbie Lawler Vs. Scott Smith. The main event between Urijah Faber Vs. Jens Pulver was more than just a legit main event. It was a battle between one of the pound for pound top fighters in the world in Faber and the first ever lightweight UFC champion Pulver. I wish Pulver would have let his hands go a little bit more, but otherwise it was a very entertaining five round battle. It's to bad the nation didn't get to witness true MMA and not EliteCBS.

Who is Leonard Garcia?

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:28:39 -0500

People have been asking who is Leonard Garcia? So WEC has put out a nice highlight video for both him and Jens Pulver. Can't wait for this one.

WEC Fight Card - September 10th

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:09:45 -0500

WEC has announced the full fight card for their September 10th event on Versus. From WEC.com: Urijah Faber Vs. Mike Brown Name: Urijah Faber Height: 5? 6? (168 cm) Weight: 145 (66 kg) Record: 21-1-0 VS Name: Mike Brown Height: 5? 6? (168 cm) Weight: 155

Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia official for WEC 36

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:37:32 -0500

Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia has a chance of being the fight Roger Huerta Kenny Florian should've been. I'm rooting for Lil Evil, who I made cry at the post-fight interviews at WEC 34.

D-Man's favorite MMA fighters

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:39:47 -0500

Who are your favorite fighters? For me, it's not even close: California Kid by a mile.

WEC wins by KO

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:20:11 -0500

In what is becoming a regular occurrence, the WEC put on another outstanding event in which some of the best fighters in the sport were on display for all to enjoy. Two fighters retained their title belts while one belt went back to a former champion. As usual, the biggest winners on the night were the fans.

Jens Pulver got Pulverised

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:14:26 -0500

Jens Pulver beaten up Jens Pulver beaten up Jens Pulver beaten up Jens Pulver beaten up

Mike Brown to be Urijah Faber's next vicitim: WEC 36 (September 10)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:45:37 -0500

So we get Urijah Faber against Mike Brown plus WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho will defend his title again against Chael Sonnen in the main event of the evening and "Razor" Rob McCullough takes on Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in a lightweight tilt. There is also a possibilty that Pulver could be added to card as well with speculation swirling that his opponent could be Alexandre "Pequeno" Nogueira.

Pulverized: WEC 34 Fight Recaps

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:58:54 -0500

In the WEC 34 featherweight title match, "California Kid" Urijah Faber dominated Jens Pulver in a five-round unanimous decision, but arguably it wasn't even the best fight of the night. Here we rank and review all 11 fights, most of which were not televised. Compared side-by-side with Elite XC's event this weekend, WEC stands out as the clear winner. The talent at Sacramento's Arco Arena rivaled the crowd's rowdiness, and Miguel Torres, Mark Munoz, Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver and Yoshira Maeda all showed up ready to fight, each displaying elite athleticism, courage and respect, for themselves, the sport and also for their opponents. 11) Lightweight Bout: Kenneth Alexander vs. Rob McCullough McCullough defended well with the sprawl, and he defeated Alexander by split decision, but not before inflicting an illegal shot to the groin. I thought Alexander took the fight, but it was close and not controversial, in my opinion. It's a shame that the first televised fight of the night was also the worst fight of the night. The crowd was drunk, restless and unwilling to allow fights to develop before booing because of sparse action, but they were right to boo this fight. It was a real snoozer. There was hardly any action. Those who changed the channel definitely missed out, though, because the next three fights were three of the four best fights of the night. WEC 34 was overall a great event, and if you haven't seen the fights, watch the replay on Versus. 10) Luis Sapo vs. Alex Serdyukov The luckiest fighter of the night award goes to Serdyukov. Sapo dominated throughout the entire first round, and it looked as though he would make quick work of the Russian fighter. But at the end of the first round, Sapo slipped and fell, and Serdyukov pounced, landing a flurry of punches with five seconds left that ended the fight. Sapo was unable to answer the bell, but if that had not been the case, there is little doubt in my mind that he would have quickly disposed of the Russian, who was outmatched thoroughly. 9) Featherweight Bout: Mike Brown vs. Jeff Curran Not really sure where to rank this one. It was tough for me to focus on the fight, partly because there wasn't much action, but mostly because the guy in front of me kept talking my ear off, complaining that MMA isn't nearly as good as boxing. (He's wrong, by the way.) If you don't like the sport, why don't you give up your seat to someone who cares? It was annoying, but at least he kept his mouth shut during the night's top fights. Brown won via unanimous decision. Curran, whose last fight was against Faber, has now lost two straight. 8) Will Ribeiro vs. Chase Beebe The recipients of the blows in this fight looked like they were shot out of cannons. It was the first heavy kick action of the night (fifth fight overall), and at one point Beebe flew halfway across the ring thanks to the strong leg of Ribeiro, who in his WEC debut appeared to be the better overall fighter. The judges agreed but the decision was split. I was pretty surprised that it was not a unanimous decision. 7) Bantamweight Bout: Dominick Cruz vs. Charlie Valencia Valencia gave up five inches to Cruz, and he couldn't overcome the reach disadvantage, losing via unanimous decision. Great officiating in this fight, which happened to also be the first fight of the night. There were a few times where it appeared as though the fight might be called, but the ref allowed the action to continue, and each time it proved to be the correct decision. Valencia was never in any real danger; however, he was also never really in contention. Cruz was simply too big and too strong, and he won via unanimous decision. 6) Lightweight Bout: Danny Castillo vs. Donald Cerrone The quickest fight of the night. Thirty seconds into the first round. Cerrone won via an armbar against the local Sacramento fighter, who was making his post-busted-for-steroids debut. The crowd hated Castillo, who was gracious in victory. One of the things I love about MMA is the immense of respect fighters display for each other, not always before the fight, but usually in between rounds and always after the fight. 5) Featherweight Bout: Alexandre Nogueria vs. Jose Aldo Nogueria is lucky to be alive right now. This was a vicious beating, and I'm surprised the fight wasn't called a few seconds earlier than it was. The defeat came in round two. Just brutal. 4) Light Heavyweight Bout: Chuck Grisby vs. Mark Munoz This fight featured the knockout of the night. Grisby had to be picked off the mat like a scab, and he never made it out of the first round. Munoz unleashed hell, and they brought the stretcher into the cage following the fight. Eventually Grisby walked off on his own two feet, but not without some help. 3) Bantamweight World Title: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Miguel Torres It's a shame this fight never made it to the fourth round. In between rounds three and four, the doctors recommended to the referee that the fight be stopped, and it was. Maeda's right eye was swollen shut, and he was the only fighter scheduled to appear at the post-fight press conference who did not show up. My guess is that he was in the hospital. To his credit, he was standing strong with Torres, who is a legend and nearly undefeated (one loss). Torres would have almost certainly won the fight had they continued, but it was not one-sided by any means. Maeda inflicted some damage, and showed a lot of courage, continuing to strike hard and fight aggressively, even though he was half-blind and in a world of pain. You could see the pain on his face when, in between rounds, the doctors worked on his cuts and bruises. Had this fight continued for another round, it may have been the best fight of the night. That's the only reason I bumped it down to #3. It's disappointing to see such a great fight stopped in between rounds like that. The best moment of the fight was when Torres was on his back, and he baited Maeda to come close, and then in one motion he jumped up and kicked him in the face, all with his back to the mat. 2) Featherweight World Title Bout: Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver This fight will go down in MMA history as a watershed moment in the career of Faber, who before WEC 34 had never been considered a superior striker. But Faber stood toe-to-toe with Pulver, who somehow managed five rounds with the champ. There was no doubt who won the fight, and there was no suspense prior to the unanimous decision; however, Pulver had a chance up until late in the final round, when Faber took Pulver to the mat with less than a minute remaining, at which point it became clear that no knockout punch was forthcoming. That's what made this fight so great. The potential for a Pulver knockout. With his powerful left hand, he could have ended the fight with one punch, so even though he was being dominated, the fight literally was not over until it was over. Faber displayed tremendous defense, elusiveness, and only took one unnecessary risk (that I could see). This fight will be replayed on TV many times; unfortunately, the best fight of the night may never be televised because it was on the undercard, and also because it went a full three rounds. 1) Middleweight Bout: Jeremy Lang vs. Tim McKenzie This was the fourth fight of the night, and the first time the crowd tasted blood. Lang had every chance to win this non-televised battled against the mohawked Tim McKenzie, who was within defeat's grasp a number of times early on. In the first round, McKenzie was unable to mount any offense save for a single blow with his elbow, which he delivered with his mat to the back. Maybe it was a lucky shot, maybe not, but without that blow, this fight may have ended in the first round. In the second round, McKenzie faced more trouble. He escaped not one but two guillotine holds, each of which appeared to be on track to end the bout. How he escaped from either is beyond my comprehension. He was choked to the brink of consciousness, and each time he managed to escape. He escaped the second hold, mounted Lang, and pounded away. He landed a kick to the face near the end of round two, and it was the first sign that the momentum was shifting. At the beginning of the third round, Lang responded with an illegal knee to the groin. Immediately following that blow, Lang went for the shoot, ostensibly to attempt a third and final guillotine. But McKenzie sprawled, gained the upper hand, and triangle-choked Lang limp in the blink of an eye. It was an amazing comeback, and it's a shame this fight may never be seen by the masses. "I cannot believe what I just witnessed," is what I said as the crowd erupted following the referee's stoppage. My colleague Andrew, who was sitting next to me and who has been following MMA closely for three or four years, turned to me and said, "That may have been the best fight I've ever seen." The photo below is of Pulver immediately following his defeat.

Urijah Faber Vs. Jens Pulver WEC 34 Video

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:07:40 -0500

WEC 34 - "Faber vs Pulver" fight video of Urijah Faber Vs. Jens Pulver.

Jens Pulver Relinquishes the Underdog Role

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:06:55 -0500

Jens Pulver has always been considered the underdog. In his first fight with BJ Penn he was a major underdog and pulled through. His last fight in the WEC he was an underdog but the savvy vet managed to tear through his competition Tomorrow he's slated to fight Urijah Faber, the California Kid. The Sacramento stand out is regarded as one of the best pound for pound fighters in his weight class. jens pulver has recently moved down from lightweight and it fits him well. I'm going to go out on a limb here and go against the expected. I'm going to choose Jens Pulver to end this fight in the second round via knock out.