Jens Pulver

At WEC 41, Pulver was submitted by Josh Grispi via Guillotine Choke within the first minute of the match. "I think I just ended in the same place I started," Pulver said emotionally to the crowd after losing 8 of his past 12 encounters. "I’m not saying I’m done yet, but it’s been incredible."

In 2014, Pulver makes a cameo on season four of The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY Network. He is a part of a computer case and video gaming team called, Red Harbinger and goes by the gamer name, "Little Evil". He and his team are called in by Rob Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) to supply custom computers for a video game room Winkle designed in a mansion he renovated in Palm Beach, Florida.

Pulver faced Masakatsu Ueda in the Bantamweight grand prix semifinals on April 5, 2013 at ONE Fighting Championship: Kings and Champions. He lost the fight by submission.

On March 26, 2012, it was announced that Pulver had signed with UK promotion Cage Warriors.

On April 14, 2012, Pulver defeated All Army Combatives Flyweight Champion Jesse Thorton by unanimous decision in Fort Hood, Texas.

On August 31, 2012 Pulver moved back up to 145 lbs to face undefeated Filipino fighter Eric Kelly in his own country. Pulver hung in tough with Kelly but fell in the second round to a TKO after Kelly landed a solid body kick followed up with some punches.

On October 6, 2012, Pulver returned to ONE Championship in entering their Bantamweight grand prix. Jens took on Chinese prospect Zhao Ya Fei, Pulver won a technical decision after taking an illegal groin strike and the fight went to the judges score cards in the third round.[2]

Pulver headlined XFO 38 against Mike Lindquist on January 22, 2011, where he won the fight by submission (rear naked choke) at 0:49 in the first round. This marked Pulver's first victory in just over 3 years, snapping a 6 fight losing streak.

On March 5, 2011 Pulver defeated Wade Choate by split decision despite breaking his foot in the first round of the fight. The victory marks his second consecutive win.

Pulver fought fellow World Extreme Cagefighting veteran, Coty Wheeler at MMA Fight Pit presents "Genesis" on August 13, 2011 in New Mexico. Pulver won the fight via 2nd-round TKO in a dominant performance.[1]

Pulver fought Tim Elliott at Resurrection Fighting Alliance on December 16, 2011 and lost the fight via second-round knockout by a knee to the temple. In a post fight speech, Elliott thanked Jens for accepting the fight, and referred to him as his number one inspiration for being a mixed martial artist.

Pulver returned at WEC 47 to face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Javier Vazquez on March 6, 2010. Pulver lost via submission due to an armbar at 3:41 of the first round. Pulver has lost 9 out his last 13 fights.

Pulver met Diego Garijo on August 14, 2010 in Irvine, California, losing the bout by submission via guillotine choke in the first round. This was Pulver's sixth straight loss.

Pulver and Faber finally met at WEC 34 on June 1, 2008. Neither man was able to finish the other and the fight went the full five rounds. The judges scored the bout a unanimous decision for Faber, 50–45, 50–44 and 50–44. This fight marked the first time that one of Pulver's fights at featherweight had gone to decision, the first time Pulver had been defeated at that weight class and also the first time one of Faber's fights in the WEC had gone the distance. Pulver stated after the fight that he wanted another shot at the title, but wanted "to earn it".

Pulver has a daughter. He married in 2009. He and his wife have a boy who was born December 16, 2008.

On July 17, 2007, it was announced Pulver would be making his World Extreme Cagefighting debut against Cub Swanson at WEC 30 on September 5, 2007. Pulver had to pull out of the match with Cub Swanson due to a knee injury. The fight was subsequently rescheduled for the December 12 World Extreme Cagefighting card. Pulver won the rescheduled match by guillotine choke at 35 seconds of the first round and announced his intentions to make a run for the 145 lb title which Urijah Faber currently held and had defended successfully against Pulver's teammate and longtime Jiu-Jitsu coach, Jeff Curran on the same card.

After leaving the UFC, Pulver's career slumped slightly with two consecutive losses. He regained his winning ways by dropping down a weight class (to 145 lb). Along the same time, Pulver also began competing as a professional boxer, winning all four of his fights in 2004, including a fight on the nationally syndicated USA Network. During this time Pulver fought in various other MMA promotions, including Shooto, Pride and the IFL, as well as one match in the Shootboxing kickboxing promotion, where he defeated 2004 Sanda champion Dai Chang Liang. After this match, Pulver moved back up to the lightweight division in December 2004 in the Pride Fighting Championships.

Following a second win over Hughes, Hallman dropped down a weight class and fought Pulver for the Lightweight Championship in September 2001. Pulver and Hallman had both wrestled in the same state (Washington) in high school. In pre-fight interviews, Hallman claimed to personally know and dislike Pulver, but Pulver denied any personal relationship, instead asserting that he only knew Hallman as a fellow state high school wrestling champion.

While in college, Pulver's interests shifted from wrestling to mixed martial arts. He found early success fighting in unsanctioned "underground" events, before befriending Lowell Anderson, the owner of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) academy ninety miles north of Boise, Idaho. Lowell got Pulver involved in sanctioned MMA events, namely the Bas Rutten Invitational in April 1999. Pulver won one match, then lost the second due to his lack of martial arts training. He fought again in the third incarnation of the Bas Rutten Invitational, winning both his fights and impressing then-UFC matchmaker, John Perretti.

Pulver moved to Lockeford, California in 1999 where he briefly trained at the Lion's Den and then joined Shamrock 2000, a short lived camp formed by Bob Shamrock (the foster father of Ken and Frank Shamrock) Kevin Woo, and Dr. Ron Emmerson. Pulver noted that there was a little kid who would show up at the gym to hit the bags in those days named Nick Diaz with his younger brother Nate, both of whom later became MMA stars. Pulver, who hated his name because it was the same as his father's, even asked Bob at one point if he could take the Shamrock name since Bob was the first real father figure he felt he ever had. Bob told him: "You go out there and make the Pulver name mean something good." (Pulver would later go on to become the first 155-pound champion in UFC history.) Pulver wanted to fight full-time, but they did not have the right training partners for him. Shamrock put him in contact with Monte Cox and sent him to Iowa, where Pat Miletich was starting a camp where he could train full-time.

Pulver began competing in the UFC in September 1999. He fought four times in the UFC before gaining a title shot against top ranked Japanese Fighter Caol Uno in February 2001. Pulver won the title by unanimous decision, becoming the first UFC Lightweight Champion. He defended his title twice (against Dennis Hallman and B.J. Penn) before leaving the organization due to contractual problems. Pulver became famous for his combination of defensive wrestling and boxing strategies colloquially called "sprawl and brawl" in MMA circles.

Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show against long-time rival B.J. Penn. In mixed martial arts, Pulver competed at the Lightweight, Featherweight, Bantamweight and Flyweight divisions in addition to competing at the Middleweight, Light Middleweight, and Welterweight divisions as a professional boxer. While perhaps best known for competing in the UFC, Pulver has also competed in Pride Fighting Championships, for the PRIDE 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix. He is to-date the youngest UFC Lightweight Champion in the UFC history, eventually relinquishing his title, after two defenses, due to a contract dispute. Pulver officially retired from combat sports in 2014. Pulver is considered the founder of the UFC lightweight division.