Props: The Fukerton
Quoteworthy:
"Somebody’s gotta have that rough road, and I guess that’s me. Somebody’s gotta live that roller coaster, and I pretty much perfected it at this point from the day I was born. One of the biggest promises that I made is I’m not going to be that guy that retires and then comes back. I retire and have everybody give me their well-wishes, and we throw a little celebration and all that, but then I decide I’m going to come back. I’m not going to waste everybody’s time with that. So really right now for me it’s a pause. And I need to take that pause, because the reality is physically I feel great … But I got caught, I got beat … The self-esteem is shot, everything about my fighting is shot in that aspect. What do I do? So I just need that pause right now, you know, to really figure out what I’m going to do when I get in there, how am I going to fix things, can I fix things? And then when that day comes, of course, so when I do retire it’ll be a one-time deal."
Former UFC lightweight champion and current WEC featherweight Jens Pulver reflects on the very difficult decision facing him: Whether or not to retire from the sport of mixed martial arts. Now 22-12-1, "Lil Evil" has lost six of his last seven fights, albeit to extremely tough competition, including Urijah Faber (twice), BJ Penn, Leonard Garcia, Joe Lauzon and most recently to the up-and-coming 20-year-old Josh Grispi. Always candid, Pulver talked about the heartfelt moment he shared with the Sacramento crowd — where he started, and possibly ended, his career — at WEC 41 when he hinted at retirement.