On June 1 in Sacramento, Calif. at the Arco Arena, the WEC will put on arguably their best production yet in WEC 34: “Faber vs. Pulver.”
This will be a big night for the Zuffa, LLC owned WEC (Zuffa is also the parent company of the UFC). The event is currently sold out and they have had to open up more seats in the upper bowl to accommodate the public demand for tickets.
The WEC Bantamweight and WEC Featherweight Championship belts will both be on the line that night.
The headlining fight will be for the WEC Featherweight Championship and will feature two of the best MMA fighters in the world. WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber will battle former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver.
Urijah “The California Kid” Faber will step into the octagon with a 20–1 professional MMA record. He is considered by many to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Faber’s only loss was in 2005 to the UFC’s Tyson Griffin for the Bantamweight title at the Gladiator Challenge 42: Summer Slam event.
Since then, he has rolled off 12 straight victories, including four straight WEC Featherweight title defenses against Joe Pearson, Dominic Cruz, Chance Farrar, and Jeff Curran.
Faber’s greatest strengths are his wrestling skill and physical strength on the ground. He also has great submission skills.
Ten of his 20 victories are by submission. Faber has an extensive background in wrestling in high school and Division I college.
He is currently being trained for the Pulver fight by Andy Kay (Muay Thai), Cassio Werneck (BJJ), and Joe Urias (Boxing).
Jens “Little Evil” Pulver, on the other hand, has a 22– 8– 1 professional MMA record.
He holds victories over Joe Stevenson, current UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn, and Caol Uno.
Pulver’s greatest strength inside the octagon is his stand-up. He was once a professional boxer and is 4–0 in his boxing career before MMA became his primary focus. He, like Faber, was also a Division I wrestler.
Pulver is training for the Faber fight at his long time camp in Davenport, Iowa with friend and teacher Pat Miletich.
This fight will most likely come down to whoever imposes his will and dictates the pace of the fight.
Faber will have the advantage on the ground with his strength and submission skills. Pulver will have the advantage on his feet.
These contrasting styles are what typically lead to an entertaining and exciting fight.
I am going to pick Jens Pulver to pull off the upset. I feel like he has a lot left in the tank and he has been vicious at 145 pounds. He is now 8-0 fighting at 145 pounds.
Pulver looks even stronger at 145 than at 155 where guys like BJ Penn can easily take him down with their overwhelming strength.
At 145 pounds, Faber will have more trouble taking him down and he will be able to sprawl and use his added strength to avoid takedown attempts.
If he is successful in keeping the fight off the ground, I like his odds. Pulver has world class boxing skills and he will get the best of the exchanges.
Look for Pulver to knockout Faber in the second round and once again become a champion.
Comments (22) Add a comment »
from 5 days ago
Great article. This one is tough to call. Faber is just so dominating at 145. Any time it looks like he is in trouble he pulls out the win. I think that the breakdown is fair though, Pulver has better and more proven stand-up and his wrestling skills should be enough to avoid most take downs (from another wrestler).
However, Faber is one tough SOB, it is just too hard to write him off. I could definitely go with you on this one and pick Pulver.
from 5 days ago
You're going w/ me on pulver, but you wouldn't bet money on it, is that what you're saying?
How about the mma love on the front page? thats always good to see
from 5 days ago
What? That didn't make sense to you? I'm a politician, I flip-flop.
I am just saying that while I think that Pulver will win it is just too close to call and I wouldn't want to risk my money on something as close as this one.
from 5 days ago
Faber was lucky against Curran. I do not believe he will beat Pulver, however, I am no expert. My brother, on the other hand, is and (if I am not mistaken) feels similar to the original poster. Pulver's boxing skills will win out.
Kirk Mango
Author of:
Becoming a True Champion (http://www.becomingatruechampion.com/)
The Athlete's Sports Experience (http://www.becomingatruechampion.blogspot.com/)
from 5 days ago
I don't think this as much of a cut and dry 'striker vs grappler' match as you make it out to be. Pulver has shown (staying recent) in his last two fights that he is a very competent wrestler and submission practioner (defensively and offensively). Against BJ Penn, he put up a strong test, managing to get on top of Penn at times, and fended off a triangle choke by using good posture. In his first fight in the UFC, he finished it with a choke in less than a minute. He trains in MFS and I'm sure that with guys like Jeremy Horn his ground game continues to improve each day. I'd still say Faber is a better overall submission grappler due to his amazing creativity and instincts in the ring, though. Wrestling, on the other hand, I see as a fairly even match that will define the fight. Pulver has the advantage on the feet, certainly, and better knockout power, especially in that left hand, however, I don't see Faber making the mistake of staying on the feet and boxing on the outside for much of the fight. Faber is known for his incredible pace and conditioning, and I expect this to be the key to the fight: conditioning. If Pulver is in good enough condition, I see him winning. Now, what we can define as 'good enough' lies in question. Whether this fight lasts 2 rounds or 5, I expect an exciting war to the end.
from 5 days ago
I agree with you about the conditioning. I hope pulver is able to go a few rounds. If he's gassed and just swinging at air he will get taken down pretty easily.
from 5 days ago
Thing I forgot to add -- Pulver did eventually get submitted by rear naked choke in that fight. Penn trapped one of his arms with a leg and it opened up the oppurtunity. The thing I wanted to point out about that is the fact that Penn is possibly the best jui-jitsu guy in all of MMA, and a more natural 155 pounder than Pulver. No shame taken in being submitted by the best 155 pounder in the world.
from 5 days ago
Absolutely, Penn can impose his will on most 155 pounders and probably the majority of 170 pounders as well. He's one of the best ever. No shame, like you said, in losing to a guy like that.
from 5 days ago
What planet does this take place on? I must be on a different one.....
from 5 days ago
Must be ... it's the fastest growing sport on the planet
from 5 days ago
Nice! Did you just channel "Goldie". Next use the phrase Meteoric rise!
from 5 days ago
Urijah Faber is stepping up into the next level of fighters by taking on Jenz Pulver. Pulver has faced way tougher fighters during his career. Not to take anything away from Faber, but Jenz Pulver is the first guy he is fighting who has "a name" in MMA. Faber can't get reckless like he does from time to time. That would be the end of it against a seasoned vet. I do think Faber is going to pull this one off because he has more heart and determination.
from 5 days ago
Pulver is NOT the first guy with a "Name" that Faber has fought. If you follow the sport you should know who Tyson Griffin is. Jeff Curran is in the top ten featherweights. He also has a win over Charles "CrazyHorse" Bennett.
from 5 days ago
I'm going to be thesecond person on here to take Faber? He is the champ right? Number one at 145? I thought Pulver looked lost and overwhelmed in the Penn fight. At 145 Faber is going to be the much stronger man. I don't think Faber is going to have that much difficulty taking Pulver down, and controlling him. I guess I'll go against the grain and take Faber by second round stoppage.
from 5 days ago
Yeah i thought i was going to be the only one taking pulver but it seems pretty even split up to this point. For the record, a lot of guys look lost and overwhelmed against Penn nowadays.
from 5 days ago
I believe that Stevenson lost to Penn even worse than Pulver did... so yeah.
from 3 days ago
i think this fight comes down to three things,
1. faber's speed and conditioning-how does pulver handle the speed of faber and if the fight goes into the later rounds will he be able to keep the pace without gassing
2. pulver's quality of opposition-has faber's lesser quality of opposition made him look better than he is? will he be nervous facing the biggest test of his career so far?
3. faber's chin-pulver has one punch ko power. will faber be able to eat one of those right hands?
i think these are the three biggest question marks about this fight coming in.
from 2 days ago
I agree with your assessment - who do you think is going to come away with W?
from 2 days ago
Pulver's best days are behind him. Seriously, he's lost to the last five good fighters he's faced. Penn, Lauzon, Sakurai, Gomi, Ludwig. His last good win was back in 2002 against Penn.
Of course, those are some top fighters but Faber has enough to finish Pulver if he can avoid eating a huge left hand early. I'm taking Faber by tko in round 3.
from 2 days ago
if what ive seen from faber holds true, he should be able to get by pulver. I think if he does, it will be the biggest win of his career and i will expect him to win all future big matchups at 145 instead of having the question marks I have now. This fight should answer those as I believe pulver will be the test to tell us if hes for real or not. I expect faber to win, probably by tko late in the fight.
from 1 day ago
I believe that Faber will come away with the victory! To say that this is the biggest fight of Fabers career is an easy observation, but to compare his strength with Pulver is almost crazy! Faber comes from two people who have created a monster at 145 pounds and it all comes from genetics, and you cant teach genetics! Plus Faber is so composed under pressure even if Pulver does connect with a left it is going to have to put Faber asleep, which i don't see happening Faber is to smart for that! Its going to be along night for Pulver
from about 13 hours ago
Although I have a soft spot for Jens Pulver, especially after he coached against BJ Penn, I feel that he will be steamrolled by Faber. This is one of those fights where I will be happy for whoever wins because they are both dynamite fighters and I know they'll go all out.
Write a new comment