Penn - Pulver Fight Results

Penn had obsessed about grabbing a rematch with Pulver after losing to the then-UFC lightweight champion in 2002 and finally, after half a decade of clamoring for a shot at redemption, his dream came true. The 28-year-old from Hilo, Hawaii left no doubt as to who the better man was tonight, punishing Pulver from the start before choking out his bitter rival 3:12 into the second round inside the spectacular Pearl concert hall in the Palms Hotel. But Penn didn't just score a submission -- he tried his best to torture "Little Evil" before making the 32-year-old Miletich fighter tapout from a rear-naked choke. Penn easily scored takedowns in the first round and was able to systematically break Pulver's will. Penn landed stinging elbows and punches while in Pulver's guard and if that wasn't bad enough for Pulver, the "Prodigy" was able to achieve full mount almost at will. Penn looked like the hungrier and more skilled fighter, even though Pulver gave it his all. There were a few times during the skirmish where it appeared as though Penn (11-4-1) could have ended the fight early and gone for either an armbar or rear-naked choke, but he seemed content to keep a slower pace in an effort to administer a more potent beating. "He didn't go for the easy submission," Pulver stated immediately following his disappointing loss. "He tried to beat the hell out of me. I respect him more and more every minute. B.J.'s a savage; he's very good." It wasn't as if Pulver, whose record fell to 21-8-1, just stood around and took a beating because he enjoyed it. Pulver tried to make a fight out of it as well. He landed some crisp punches in the first and second rounds and delivered a few solid knees to Penn's ribs while in the clinch. But B.J. withstood the strikes and, whenever he wanted, either slammed Pulver down hard or just sucked him onto the canvas with single-leg takedowns. Every time Pulver was down he found a world of trouble -- armbars, triangles, omoplatas and a rear-naked chokes. Pulver masterfully escaped each attempt save for the final choke, a submission that was strung together perfectly. Pulver knew it was coming and defended Penn's arms and hands. Penn quickly maneuvered his left leg to the front of Pulver's body and trapped the Bettendorf, Iowa-based fighter's left arm so he was unable to defend the imminent choke. From there Penn sunk in the submission and forced Pulver to tap. The first UFC 155-pound champion had planned on retiring from active competition following his last fight -- a shocking knockout loss to undercard fighter and TUF 5 cast member Joe Lauzon -- but after receiving the offer to fight Penn a second time and following six grueling weeks as a coach on the reality television series, Pulver had a change of heart. Even with the loss tonight, Pulver was adamant that he's sticking around and will continue to grow as a fighter. "This is almost our way of saying goodbye," Pulver said of himself and Penn. "I'm going down to 145; I think he wants to go back up to 170. So we just put a stamp on a phenomenal weight class that I hope you guys love, enjoy, and will always embrace in the UFC: 155." Penn made himself unavailable for comments moments after the triumph over Pulver, his rival-turned-future training partner. Instead, Penn shouted into the microphone for everybody to visit his personal Web site -- bjpenn.com -- which ironically crashed due to a likely surge in traffic.