All’s not lost for Jens Pulver

Throughout his life, Jens Pulver has dealt with issues on a much greater magnitude than a few consecutive MMA defeats. To put it mildly- Pulver’s childhood was a living nightmare. He woke up daily wondering if he would survive the wrath of his alcoholic drug-addicted father. He channeled that fear and anger as he grew up into his adolescent wrestling career. This ultimately led to his discovery of and success in MMA.

Since 1999 we have witnessed “Little Evil” as a world champion and a dominant figure during the inception of the UFC. Pulver’s career has since climaxed. Despite the changes, it still doesn’t change the fact that he will always be considered one of the most influential figures to ever grace the sport.

It is no secret that Jens Pulver has seen his share of hard times over the past few years. Since making his transition to the WEC featherweight division he has notched only one win in four fights. Pulver’s infamous left hand hasn’t even seen much action. It’s been nearly three years since he’s knocked anyone out.

Regardless, Pulver has achieved monumental success in his ten year MMA career. He is widely considered a living legend in the sport and is certainly on track to becoming a UFC hall of famer. While I don’t think Pulver will be making any more title runs in his career, he still should continue to sell fights as well as get some explosive wins under his belt before hanging up the gloves for good.

The problem with being such a dominant champion in the sport is that losses don’t warm up easily to fans. All it takes is one KO loss and the words of the retirement train come chugging along. After Pulver suffered a TKO loss to Leonard Garcia this past November, the chatter came out in full swing. Chuck Liddell has experienced similar speculation from fans especially after his brutal knockout loss to Rashad Evans. Critics of Pulver believe that his recent loss to Urijah Faber was the last time we will ever see him in the cage.

Pulver is a man of honor, a warrior, and is most certainly not a quitter. Pulver’s character suggests that he would much rather retire off a couple dominant wins than a heartbreaking loss. In the same respect, Pulver now has a family to think about. With a new wife and daughter in his world it is a toss-up as to whether or not he will continue. It is quite evident that in whatever decision he makes that he will have the full support of his family and fans.

“[expletive] it… I’m not done.” While I will respect Pulver for whatever decision he makes,  I hope those famous words after the recent Faber loss hold true.