"Lil' Evil" Jens Pulver to Return in 2010

When Jens Pulver was submitted in 33 seconds by Josh Grispi back at WEC 41 in Sacramento, the fan favorite known as "Lil' Evil" tearfully thanked the fans for years of support and hinted that the last fight of his career may have just taken place.

Thankfully, that doesn't look like it is going to be the case, as the first lightweight champion in UFC history plans on returning to the cage in 2010.

Candid as ever, Pulver discussed the time between the Grispi loss and now with Mike Chiappetta of AOL Fanhouse, divulging that moving back to Idaho and medication prescribed following visits to a psychiatrist have helped Pulver deal with feelings of anxiety and depression that have plagued him for a number of years.

While the news is certainly welcomed by the legions of Lil' Evil fans that includes this writer, many will ask a variation of the question posed to Pulver by WEC analyst Todd Hummer following his second loss to Urijah Faber: is he still relevant?

Having lost four straight and six of his last seven, his recent track record certainly would make it hard for anyone to argue in his favor. After a strong showing in a five round war with then Featherweight champ Faber in June 2008, Pulver has spent a combined 3:19 seconds in the cage over his last three losses.

But you shouldn't count out a guy with Pulver's track record, both inside the cage and outside.

In addition to racking up wins over the likes of B.J. Penn, Caol Uno, Dennis Hallman and Cub Swanson, Pulver has overcome the abusive childhood detailed in his book Little Evil, the sudden death of close friend Justin Eilers and the aforementioned struggles with anxiety and depression.

If Lil' Evil says he's feeling better than ever and he's ready to go again, this writer is inclined to believe him.

In an era where more and more athletes offer nothing but robotic answers and show as little emotion as possible, Jens Pulver has always been candid and worn his hear on his sleeve. He's as likable a fighter as their is in the sport.

Just don't let the smiles and emotions fool you; a motivated and committed Pulver could be a dangerous opponent and stirring story once he gets back into the cage in 2010.

Welcome back Lil' Evil...


(Photo courtesy of Evan Shoman. Visit Shoman Art for more details.)


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Punch Drunk Predictions: Brown vs. Faber 2

I can't lie: I got my ass handed to me last night on the Strikeforce card, dropping another 4-7 over the entire card.

But really, how was I to know "Feijao" would show up in shitty shape, Brett Rogers wasn't lying about knocking out "The Pitbull" and Jake Shields would sink in a standing guillotine tighter than the girls I dated in high school?

At least I get an immediate shot at redemption with WEC 41 tonight in Sacto. The good stuff is after the jump ...



Josh Grispi (12-1) vs. Jens Pulver (22-11-1)
Despite his name, Josh Grispi's success is no fluke. The kid has serious skills, as first round victems Micah Miller and Mark Hominick can attest. While Lil' Evil certainly has the name brand recognition here, he's also riding a three fight losing streak and has dropped five of six. This isn't the same Jens Pulver that was UFC lightweight champ and expect the young, faster, stronger Grispi to further illustrate that tonight.

Donald Cerrone (9-1-0, 1 NC) vs. James Krause (10-0)
Admittedly, I don't know much about James Krause. He's got a nice looking record and has been out of the first round just once according to Sherdog. Truthfully, I don't need to know much anyway, because he's fighting "Cowboy" and he doesn't stand a chance. That seems like enough of a break down.

Jose Aldo (14-1) vs. Cub Swanson (13-2)
Swanson has the edge in experience and strength of opponents, having been inside the cage for more rounds against the likes of Micah Miller, Jens Pulver and Hiroyuki Takaya. Aldo gets the advantage in speed and ferocious striking, as the Brazilian is fast becoming a fan favorite for his devastating knockouts. Winner of this gets the next title shot at 145.

Mike Thomas Brown (21-4-0) vs. Urijah Faber (22-2)
I gave you some background on this bad boy last week, but here's a little more. When fights are as close as this one, I often turn to training camps as an indicator of who has the best chance. Faber is the Alpha Male of Team Alpha Male, surrounded by friends and backslappers who tell Urijah how great Urijah is, in my opinion. Brown gets ready at American Top Team, one of the Top 3 camps in the entire sport and has a wealth of world class training partners to work with.

Punch Drunk Predictions
Record: 13-18 (Yikes... gotta pick it up!)

Preliminary Card
Seth Dikun over Rolando Perez
Noah Thomas over Frank Gomez
Scott Jorgensen over Antonio Banuelos
Anthony Pettis over Mike Campbell
Kyle Dietz over Rafael Rebello
Manny Gamburyan over John Franchi

Main Card
Josh Grispi over Jens Pulver
Donald Cerrone over James Krause
Jose Aldo over Cub Swanson

And in the Main Event of the evening ...

Mike Thomas Brown over Urijah Faber

Touch gloves and come out swingin'!

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KIMBO!

As of yesterday afternoon, this week was already a pretty outstanding week in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

Strikeforce has a solid card on tap for Saturday (which I'll cover later this week) and the highly-anticipated Mike Thomas Brown versus Urijah Faber rematch goes down on Sunday night. Yes, I'll be breaking that one down too.

So just before I turned in for bed last night, I do a quick check of the web and find a monster announcement.

Kimbo Slice is going to be on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Say what you will about the man born Kevin Ferguson, but this is an absolute stroke of genius for Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and the UFC.


While people currently like to use Kimbo as the example of everything that was wrong with EliteXC and call him out for getting dropped in fourteen seconds by Seth Petruzelli, remember that he was also the catalyst for a whole shitload of people turning on their television sets and paying attention to MMA for the first time in their lives.

For better or for worse, people were interested in this guy and his place on TUF gives an instant jolt of electricity to a show that was looking like it needed life support.

You think people aren't going to tune in each and every week to see how a guy who has been an international Internet sensation fairs in a house with a bunch of guys we've never heard of? That part alone will be interesting, not to mention waiting to see if he improves his game under the guidance of either Rampage or Rashad and if the contenders he's matched up with can get out of the way of those still very dangerous face-smashers he calls fists.

Now, I'll be the first to agree that the approach of building an organization up around an unproven like Kimbo was suicide for EliteXC; it be like the Yankees giving me millions to a guy who throws a perfect game in beer league ball. But that is what makes this move absolutely brilliant for the UFC.

Should Kimbo win the whole thing, they have an already well-known, thoroughly interesting heavyweight contender to throw into the mix right off the bat. If he gets dummied, all the shit-talking Dana did back in the day is justified, he can say, "Look, I gave the guy a shot and he's shit" and they still got a huge audience for another season of their flagship show.

As if this wasn't enough to spice up the week, White alluded to an earth-shaking announcement that is still to come that will change the UFC forever.

And to think - it's only Tuesday!
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Answers Coming in One Week

Since the time the above punch was delivered, I've been waiting for the rematch. Now we're only one week away and I'm starting to get goosebumps.

No one - myself included - believed Mike Thomas Brown was going to beat Urijah Faber on November 5, 2008. After all, "The California Kid" had been on a three year undefeated streak, plowing through the WEC Featherweight division with devastating speed, strength and striking.

Then he got dropped. Hard. Quick. Done.


See, Mike Thomas Brown was on a three year winning streak too, having not dropped a fight since his return from Japan following a loss to Masakazu Imanari in December 2005. While the flash and showmanship wasn't there, the wins were, including a Unanimous Decision over Jeff Curran in his WEC debut which set up the bout with Faber.

Less than half way through the first round, it happened. Where you stand on the situation probably depends on whether you're a member of Team Faber or Team Brown and I'm not talking Team Alpha Male versus ATT either.

Faber fans say it was a good punch when Urijah was trying a ridiculous move; that he let his cockiness get the best of him and got caught.

The other side of that coin is that he straight up got leveled, regardless of the degree of difficulty of the move being attempted. Team Brown could even argue that it's more impressive to knock a guy stiff when he's trying something creative like a spinning back elbow than if he was standing and trading with you.

I was hoping that each of their subsequent fights would help clarify the situation for me as well, as a flat performance by one would indicate the true talents of the other, but that didn't happen.

Faber crushed Jens Pulver (again!) with a Bernard Hopkins on Oscar De La Hoya body blow before sinking in a guillotine, while Brown defended his belt for the first time in stunning fashion, clobbering Leonard Garcia into submission less than 2:00 minutes into the first round. Both looked deadly, leaving the question of "Who is the better man?" still unanswered.

Some will invoke The Ric Flair Rule - to be the man, you've got to beat the man... WOOOOO! - while others will cite Georges St-Pierre as evidence that anyone can get caught with a punch once.

A Brown win cements his place as the King of the Featherweights.

A victory for "The California Kid" puts him back on top of the mountain and sets up Faber versus Brown 3.

As a fight fan, you can't lose.


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