Hall Of Fame
Jens Pulver Gets His Due | UFC Hall of Fame
UFC's First Lightweight Champion Finds Himself In The Hall Of Fame After A Historic Career.
Jens Pulver was likely going into the UFC Hall of Fame with or without his 2002 win over BJ Penn. “Lil’ Evil” was the UFC’s first 155-pound (then called bantamweight) champion, putting the lighter weight classes on the map in the United States. He was one-half of the first lightweight main event in UFC history, he coached on season five of The Ultimate Fighter, and he helped bring the WEC to new heights when he faced Urijah Faber in the promotion’s first SuperFight.
But the greats all need that great fight. Not necessarily the spectacular finishes, like Pulver scored over John Lewis and Cub Swanson, but the kind of fight where the outcome isn’t a foregone conclusion, where you get to see what a fighter has on the inside.
Silva had Sonnen. Jones and Cormier had Gustafsson. Hughes had Trigg. And you get the picture.
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So when Pulver stepped into the Octagon at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, to meet the unbeaten Penn in the second defense of his title, the only foregone conclusion was that “The Prodigy” was going to leave with the belt. And through two rounds, no one doubted that conclusion, especially when the Hawaiian caught Pulver in an armbar and nearly finished him.
The crowd roared as the horn sounded, and as Pulver walked to his corner, a thousand thoughts flooded his mind, none of them good.
“This is a f**king joke.”
“This is pathetic.”
“This dude's too damn good.”
“He's got me beat.”
“Man, I'm just going to come out here again in the third round and he’s going to armbar me again.”
Pulver sat down, his corner trying to get him back in the fight.
Jens Pulver Joins the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2023
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Jens Pulver Joins the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2023
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“I got Pat (Miletich) in one ear, I got Matt (Hughes) behind me yelling something, I got Jeremy (Horn) yelling something,” recalled Pulver. “And I'm just thinking to myself, going, this is embarrassing. This is f**king embarrassing.”
Then the champion looked across the Octagon, past Penn, through the fence and to one invested observer.
“All I can see across the cage is this dude jumping up and down, flipping me off, holding up the flag, going with the cutthroat (gesture). I looked at him and went, what? That dude thinks I'm his bitch. I kid you not. I go, he thinks I'm his bitch. F**k him, I'm s**tting in that dude's Cheerios right there. I go, this man (Penn) will not take me down again, period. And he never took me down again. I went out there and just boom, all three rounds. And (after the fight) you can watch go up and thank him. And I walked by him and it was over.”
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It was over. In a fight right out of a movie, Pulver roared back in the final three rounds, and after 25 minutes with Penn, he was declared the winner via majority decision. Jens Pulver was still the champion, and for that moment, everything was right in his world.
“That’s what I grew up on,” said Pulver. “That's what my dad used to do to me, the way he belittled me all the time. And I still have a problem with that. I don't like watching people do that to others. I don't like when people try to bully somebody and don't like your clothes, or they make fun of you because you've got a scar or something like that. And they try to just belittle you in front of everybody. That s**t, oh man, you want to see me turn ugly fast? That's it. I can't stand that s**t. (In the Penn fight) It was like this dude's over here laughing at me. The cool kids used to do that when I was a kid, making fun of my rainbow bike and s**t like that. He’s over there laughing at me and I've got bruises and I'm the one that's been getting beat on by my father. I'm like, you think you're going to laugh at me because my pants aren't as cool as yours? You're out of your f**king mind.”
Pulver pauses, then laughs when recalling his fights with Faber, when “The California Kid” was nothing but respectful to him. And beat him twice.
“I think Uriah Faber figured out that if you just treat him with respect and just go out there and fight him, you can beat him,” laughed Pulver. “But if you go out there and you insult him, and you make him think he's being belittled like his dad used to do to him when he was a kid, oh, hell no, you don't want that. Just so don't do that to him.”
It’s a hard way to get to be great, but if it was easy, there would be no place for halls of fame in sports because everyone would be on the same level playing field. But fighting through an abusive childhood, leaving everything behind to chase a dream in a sport few took seriously at the time, and in a weight class that didn’t even exist in the UFC, that takes someone special, someone like Pulver, a native of Sunnyside, Washington, who had his doubts like anyone else. He just ignored them, and in September of 1999, took a 3-1 pro MMA record into the UFC and a fight against Alfonso Alcarez. Ruled a draw after two five-minute rounds, Pulver didn’t sulk; he got back to work.
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Three knockout wins in early 2000 earned him a return call to the Octagon, where he decisioned Joao Roque at UFC 26, and by November of that year, he was 5-1 (the only loss coming against Din Thomas) and facing highly touted John Lewis at UFC 28. Eleven seconds later, a star was born.
Of course, it wasn’t that simple, as Pulver was still dealing with the after-effects of the heel hook Thomas caught him with three months earlier. Pulver had no intention of pulling out of the fight, though, not one this big, one that was the first under the unified rules of mixed martial arts, and two events away from Zuffa buying the UFC.
Jens Pulver vs. BJ Penn UFC 35
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Jens Pulver vs. BJ Penn UFC 35
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“Man, I was bedridden,” said Pulver. “And I still think about that because there was no way I was not fighting. I mean, that's an impossibility. And then to go out there and win that fight…”
Pulver pauses, then continues.
“I knew when the Fertittas and Dana (White) bought it that they were from Vegas, and I'm thinking, well, this has to be big because why would they buy it. This is how we get into Vegas. This is how we get that next level.”
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With the win over Lewis, Pulver already made it to that level, and while there were battles in the media and among fans about who had the better champions, the UFC or PRIDE, Dana White was going to make sure there was no dispute when it came to the 155-pound weight class. He was going to bring in the best ‘55er in the world to face Pulver.
Caol Uno.
“He (White) was like, ‘When we make this belt, everybody's going to know you are the best fighter on the planet because that's why we're going to go find the best fighter on the planet. And guess what? That's who you're fighting.’ I'm like, ‘Yay me.’ (Laughs) And I remember being in Atlantic City going, ‘Am I ready for this?’”
He was. Pulver defeated Uno at UFC 30 in February of 2001 to take the championship, and the rest was history. There were ups, downs, and everything in between in the ensuing 12 years, but when his career was over, he could hold his head high. He did it. He was a world champion, a pioneer in the sport, and one of the most beloved fighters who ever put the gloves on. There was just one thing missing, and in February, that missing piece of the puzzle was found as it was announced that Pulver was going into the UFC Hall of Fame.
“People always say, ‘Man, it's about time.’ And I'm like, ‘No. To be honest, it was the perfect time,’” Pulver said. “Garth Brooks said some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers? Because it came at the perfect time. I couldn't have dreamed for a better time than right now because any other year it wouldn't have worked. Any other year, I wouldn't be as ready as I am now.”
But at 48, with his wife and two kids behind him, a job he loves on UFC’s Twitch account, and the love of the fans that never left, it’s perfect timing for a Hall of Fame induction.
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