Pulver On Lauzon, TUF 5 Surprises, Penn [Pt. 2]

By MMANews.com

The following is part two of our exclusive interview with former UFC Lightweight champion and one of the coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter - Jens "Little Evil" Pulver.

In this the final portion of our interview Penn further discusses his upcoming rematch with B.J. Penn, his thoughts on working with Joe Lauzon on the show, the freakishly tall Corey Hill, surprises during the season and much more.

Luis Cruz of MMANews.com: Now most people know you hold a win over him [B.J. Penn] from before the UFC Lightweight division disappeared for a little bit. Do you think that's part of the reason why he acts that way towards you?
Jens Pulver: Oh he's been wanting to fight me since the day I beat him. Of course. The first thing he said was, "hey, now you can't duck me" and I was like, "what do you mean? Duck you, how can I duck you? You went up to 200 pounds, I weigh 155" so it's whatever. But no, I know he's always wanted to beat me. I'm a big glaring glitch in his career, [laughing] you know? Of course that's why the animosity is the way it is from him. That's why he likes to run his mouth. It's just whatever, it happens.

MMANews.com: Now what about you? How much more are you wanting a rematch now than prior to the show?
Jens Pulver: Oh, I want him. I'm glad I get to fight him. That's all there is to it. I'm very happy that it's him I'm fighting. I mean I'm ecstatic. I never wanted to fight anybody worse, I can tell you that. Never been more motiviated to fight somebody. I've never been happier to have the opportunity to fight somebody like I am now. Absolutely. I can't wait to fight him. Every punch is gonna feel good. Every punch I'm gonna be loving life. Every one of them.

MMANews.com: Do you think it's gonna hurt him coming back down to 155 pounds?
Jens Pulver: I don't know. I don't know what's gonna hurt him, but I'll find out. I don't know how it'll effect him. Maybe he'll get geared up, maybe it'll motivate him. Maybe he's amped up to do his thing, I don't know. I'll find out.

MMANews.com: Now let's talk about the fighters from the show real quick. There's a lot of good competitors. Going in, this isn't a spoiler because I'm talking prior to the taping - when you first saw the roster, going in who did you feel was the favorite to win?
Jens Pulver: I didn't really have a favorite. There was some people I was excited to see. There was some faces that I recognized, of course. So I was happy, I was like "yeah, this is ok." I was kind of tripping out like, "hey I get to see this fighter and this one." Yeah, I was pretty happy for sure. That's the beautiful thing about a tournament. I didn't know and you can't ever know for sure who's gonna do what. That's part of what I really enjoyed - just keeping an open mind and not guessing.

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