When WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber steps into the cage on June 1st, ARCO Arena will be shaking from the cheers of his faithful hometown fans. But when the cage door closes, the only person Faber will have on his mind will be former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver.
Before the fight, months worth of training will flash through each competitor's mind. When the bell rings, both warriors will push it all aside and look to end the fight right away. “There's no way this fight is going five rounds,” Pulver said. Nobody knows how long the fight will last, but every fan knows that it will be exciting while it does. “I think everybody has it right, there's no way it goes out of the first round.”
“It's gonna look like a tornado,” said Faber, who will come into the fight with a 20-1 record and a twelve fight win streak. He has watched Pulver's fights since Little Evil's earliest days in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “I've always dreamt of fighting him, before I even knew I was going to be a fighter,” Pulver said. “I've been training for this fight my whole life. Going into high school and college.”
Coming from Isla Vista, California, and wrestling at UC Davis, the Sacramento crowd will heavily favor “The California Kid.” And Faber fits in perfectly in SoCal with his clean cut looks and flowing blond hair, but after watching him in the cage it is clear where the 145 LB champion is most at home. “Jens needs to be a little fearful of the ground game,” Faber said, “When it goes to the ground that's going to be my world.”
Over the course of 33 years, many things have been said about Jens Pulver, fearful has never been one of them. “I'm not running from anyone,” said Pulver, a nine year veteran of professional MMA. Pulver grew up in an amazingly different world than the sunny surf and holistic healing that nurtured Faber. Pulver grew up in what he called a “daily hell” under his father, and professional jockey, Jens Pulver Sr. in Maple Valley, Washington.
With anger and rage building up within him, Pulver managed to focus much of it into his wrestling. Fighting to become a state champion for Tahoma High School and an All-American at Highline Community College led Pulver to a college scholarship at Boise State University. But when a wrist injury ended his wrestling career, Pulver began to concentrate on MMA.
But as different as their two lives have been, their paths will meet in the cage with the WEC Featherweight Title between them. “It's going to be a great win under my belt,” Faber says. At his Roseville, CA gym, Faber has been training at a feverish pace with world class kickboxing champion Dave Marinoble and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Cassio Werneck.
“I'm prepared to do anything to win this fight,” said Faber who has traveled the world in preparation for this fight. Faber went as far as Hilo, Hawaii to train his ground game with the last man to beat Pulver, UFC Lightweight Champion BJ “The Prodigy” Penn.
The ground may be where Faber feels comfortable, but Pulver doesn't plan on letting the fight get that far. “If I land my shots, fight's over,” Pulver said, “At 145 pounds, you know I've got nine fights, eight knock outs.” And even BJ Penn knows about the dynamite that Pulver packs in his left hand. Penn once made the mistake of trying to take the UFC Lightweight Title from Jens Pulver, and Little Evil handed BJ his first defeat, and his only one at 155 pounds to date.
“I can go in there and do one of two things,” Pulver said, “I can make some fans happy or I can rain on everyone's parade...They're going to be pissed off when it's over because I'm going to bring the belt home.” Pulver pulled off a similar feet in the backyard of his last opponent, Cub Swanson, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Pulver even showed a second side of himself, submitting Swanson with an Anaconda choke just 35 seconds into round 1.
But Faber is confident enough in his own skills to take on Pulver. “He's a legend in the sport, already,” Faber said, “I'm the number one fighter in the world at my weight class.” And after his recent submission victory over Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Jeff Curran, there aren't many who can deny it. “It's my belt!”
The fireworks are set to explode both in the arena and in the cage. Where most boxing fans wait for the explosive KOs that come from the heavyweight division, MMA fans know that the real excitement comes from the lower weight classes found in the WEC. “We go all day, and that's the way we're supposed to do it,” Pulver said, “Slapping titties and bear hugging, that's for heavyweights...You don't want to miss this.”
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