Jens Pulver

Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. In 2023, Pulver was inducted into the UFC hall of fame. 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.

Nicknamed 'Little Evil', Pulver won the first UFC Lightweight Championship following his victory over Caol Uno at UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk. Pulver also held the UFC's all-time lightweight title defenses record for nearly a decade after his successful defenses against Dennis Hallman at UFC 33: Victory in Vegas and B.J. Penn at UFC 35: Throwdown. He remains as one of the most influential figures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, due to his domination and undefeated reign as UFC Lightweight Champion in the early Zuffa era.

Background The son of a licensed horse jockey, Jens Pulver was born in Sunnyside, Washington, and grew up in Maple Valley, Washington (approximately an hour's drive from Seattle). He was the oldest of four children, two brothers, Dustin and Abel, and one sister, Jamaica.

Pulver was raised in what he referred to as a "daily hell." His childhood house was one of continual violence and abuse, stemming mostly from his alcoholic father. Many examples of the abuse Pulver faced as a youth are depicted in his autobiography, Little Evil, One Ultimate Fighter's Rise to the Top, the most extreme of which include an incident where his father threatened the then-seven-year-old Jens by placing a shotgun in Jens' mouth and then removing it, stating, "Shit, ain't worth a bullet."

Martial arts background The summer before he entered sixth grade, Pulver was introduced to a friend of the family, Jack Vantress. Vantress encouraged Pulver to join a youth wrestling program. He went on to wrestle at Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, earning two state championships at 135lbs in 1991 and 1992. He also began boxing when he was a junior. Pulver wrestled for Highline Community College where he became an NJCAA All-American by placing 3rd at 142lbs in 1997 at the NJCAA National Championships. He then wrestled for Boise State University (BSU), before he suffered a bilateral fracture of the wrists that eventually ended his collegiate career. Pulver eventually graduated from BSU with a degree in criminal justice.

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 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. After leaving, 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, 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 Pride.

Pride His first match in Pride was against then current and last Pride lightweight (160 lb) champion Takanori Gomi. Pulver and Gomi demonstrated excellent boxing skills and were both regarded as putting on the best boxing fight in an MMA bout. This was stopped short when Gomi delivered a vicious uppercut that knocked out Pulver 6:29 into the first round. This led to a match against Tomomi Iwama, in which he defeated his opponent via knock out one minute into the fight with a left hook.

He then faced Japanese star Hayato Sakurai, and would go on to lose in a fast paced see-saw affair that showcased both the toughness and heart of Pulver, and the experience and technicality of Sakurai. During the fight, Pulver was accidentally thumbed in the eye by Sakurai which left a corneal abrasion on his eye. Despite the injury Pulver still managed to knock down Sakurai with a left hook in the latter part of the first round, though Sakurai eventually won via TKO.

His final fight in Pride, against Kenji Arai, was an entertaining battle of strikers which ended when Pulver knocked Arai down with a right-left combination, and finished him with a soccer kick to the head, earning the TKO.

Return to the UFC

At UFC 63, Pulver returned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the newly reinstated lightweight division. He was matched up against UFC-newcomer Joe Lauzon. Pulver was a 7:1 favorite to win the match, but Lauzon quickly defeated the former Lightweight Champion via one punch knockout at the 48-second mark of the first round. After the fight, Pulver apologized for his performance and indicated that he still desired to keep fighting in the UFC.

Pulver was a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality television show, which hosted sixteen lightweight fighters, including the man who knocked him out previously, Joe Lauzon. His counterpart on the show and rival coach, was B.J. Penn whom Pulver defeated previously. The two coaches were scheduled to fight in the season finale, in which Pulver was defeated by a rear naked choke in the second round. After the fight, Pulver announced his intentions to drop down to featherweight and fight in the WEC. He also made overtures toward Penn to set aside their differences and train together but Pulver has also said that he would welcome a third fight with Penn.

In UFC 284, UFC announced Pulver will be inducted into the Pioneer Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame this July during the 11th annual UFC International Fight Week in Las Vegas. Pulver learned about his induction while conducting a watch-along live stream on the UFC's official Twitch.TV channel.

World Extreme Cagefighting 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 WEC 31. 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.

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 next fought infamous brawler Leonard Garcia at WEC 36 on November 5, after the original date of September 10 was postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Ike. In a surprising turn of events, Pulver suffered a TKO loss in the first round as the Greg Jackson-trained Leonard Garcia stunned Pulver with a left-right combination, then swarmed Pulver with more punches against the cage fence.

At WEC 38, Pulver once again lost to Faber in a rematch of their WEC 34 encounter when Pulver succumbed to a guillotine choke early in the first round.

After his second loss to Faber, Pulver temporarily replaced Frank Mir as color commentator at WEC 39.

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."

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.

In the aftermath of Pulver's loss at WEC 47, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Pulver had been released from the WEC.

Independent Promotions 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 was next scheduled to face Frank Johnson at CFX/Extreme Challenge 170 on December 11 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But Pulver pulled out of the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Mitch Jackson.

Pulver headlined XFO 38 against Mike Lindquist on January 22, 2011, where he won the fight via rear naked choke submission 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.

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.

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.

ONE Fighting Championship 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.

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 D'Arce choke submission.

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

Pulver has heterochromia, a harmless medical condition that gives eyes different colors; in Pulver's case his right eye is blue, while his left eye is brown.

Pulver is featured in a documentary about his training camp, personal life and difficult childhood called "Jens Pulver: Driven."

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.

Championships and accomplishments Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC Hall of Fame (Pioneer wing, Class of 2023) UFC Lightweight Championship (One time; first) Two successful title defenses First UFC Lightweight Champion to defend the title in UFC History Tied (Frankie Edgar & Justin Gaethje) for third most UFC lightweight title fight wins (5) First Lightweight to headline a UFC Event UFC Encyclopedia Awards Fight of the Night (One time) Knockout of the Night (One time) PRIDE Fighting Championship PRIDE 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinalist One of only two UFC Lightweight Champions to compete in PRIDE FC World Extreme Cagefighting Fight of the Night (One time) ONE Fighting Championship ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix Semifinalist MMA Fighting 2002 Lightweight Fighter of the Year Fight Matrix 2002 Most Noteworthy Match of Year vs. B.J. Penn on January 11, 2002

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Sami Aziz Decision (unanimous) Superior Challenge 9: Gothenburg

Gothenburg, Sweden Loss

Masakatsu Ueda Submission (brabo choke) ONE FC: Kings and Champions

Kallang, Singapore Win

Zhao Ya Fei Technical Decision (unanimous) ONE FC: Rise of Kings

Kallang, Singapore Loss

Eric Kelly TKO (body kick and punches) ONE FC: Pride of a Nation

Quezon City, Philippines Win

Jesse Thorton Decision (unanimous) Operation: Fight Night

Fort Hood, Texas, United States Loss

Tim Elliott KO (knee) Resurrection Fight Alliance

Kearney, Nebraska, United States Win

Coty Wheeler TKO (punches) MMA Fight Pit: Genesis

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States Loss

Brian Davidson Submission (rear-naked choke) Titan Fighting Championships 18

Kansas City, Kansas, United States Win

Wade Choate Decision (split) Chicago Cagefighting Championship III

Villa Park, Illinois, United States Win

Mike Lindquist Submission (rear-naked choke) XFO: 38

Woodstock, Illinois, United States Loss

Diego Garijo Submission (guillotine choke) Powerhouse World Promotions: War on the Mainland

Irvine, California, United States Loss

Javier Vazquez Submission (armbar) WEC 47

Columbus, Ohio, United States Loss

Josh Grispi Submission (guillotine choke) WEC 41

Sacramento, California, United States Loss

Urijah Faber Submission (guillotine choke) WEC 38

San Diego, California, United States Loss

Leonard Garcia TKO (punches) WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown

Hollywood, Florida, United States Loss

Urijah Faber Decision (unanimous) WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver

Sacramento, California, United States Win

Cub Swanson Submission (anaconda choke) WEC 31

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

B.J. Penn Submission (rear-naked choke) The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Joe Lauzon KO (punch) UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn

Anaheim, California, United States Win

Cole Escovedo KO (punch) IFL: Legends Championship 2006

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Win

AraiKenji Arai KO (soccer kick) Pride - Bushido 10

Tokyo, Japan Loss

SakuraiHayato Sakurai TKO (punches) Pride Bushido 9

Tokyo, Japan Win

IwamaTomomi Iwama KO (punch) Pride Bushido 7

Tokyo, Japan Loss

GomiTakanori Gomi KO (punch) Pride Shockwave 2004

Saitama City, Saitama, Japan Win

PallingStephen Palling KO (punch) Shooto Hawaii: Soljah Fight Night

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win

UematsuNaoya Uematsu KO (punch) Shooto: 3/22 in Korakuen Hall

Tokyo, Japan Win

HessRichard Hess Submission (choke) International Fighting Championships: Battleground Boise

Boise, Idaho, United States Win

JordanJoe Jordan KO (punch) Extreme Challenge 52

Rock Island, Illinois, United States Loss

MaxwellJason Maxwell KO (strikes) HOOKnSHOOT: Absolute Fighting Championships 3

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States Loss

LudwigDuane Ludwig KO (punch) UCC 12: Adrenaline

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Win

MurahamaTakehiro Murahama Decision (split) UFO: Legend

Tokyo, Japan Win

EmersonRob Emerson Decision (unanimous) UW: Ultimate Wrestling

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Win

PennB.J. Penn Decision (majority) UFC 35

Uncasville, Connecticut, United States Win

HallmanDennis Hallman Decision (unanimous) UFC 33

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

UnoCaol Uno Decision (unanimous) UFC 30

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Win

LewisJohn Lewis KO (punch) UFC 28

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Win

GriesDave Gries KO (punches) Gladiators 10

Sioux City, Iowa, United States Loss

ThomasDin Thomas Submission (heel hook) WEF: New Blood Conflict

United States Win

RoqueJoão Roque Decision (unanimous) UFC 26

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States Win

HiblerEric Hibler KO (knees and punches) WEF 9: World Class

Evansville, Indiana, United States Win

VelasquezDavid Velasquez TKO (strikes) UFC 24

Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States Win

JohnsPhil Johns KO (punch) WEF 8: Goin' Platinum

Rome, Georgia, United States Draw

AlcarezAlfonso Alcarez Draw UFC 22

Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States Win

StevensonJoe Stevenson KO (punches) Bas Rutten Invitational 3

Littleton, Colorado, United States Win

MoralesRay Morales Submission (guillotine choke) Bas Rutten Invitational 3

Littleton, Colorado, United States Loss

HarrisDavid Harris Submission (toe hold) Bas Rutten Invitational 2

Littleton, Colorado, United States Win

HillCurtis Hill TKO (towel) Bas Rutten Invitational 2

Littleton, Colorado, United States Kickboxing record

Professional boxing record

Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location