Samantha Johnson

Jens Pulver: A Left Hand That Hits So Hard It’ll Scare the B’jesus Out of You

Jens Pulver: Too Big to be Small, Too Small to be Big

Jens Pulver: Back to the Fundementals

When you ask Jens Pulver about his life and career he’ll give you an ear full… but it’s always entertaining and full of one-liners. Raised in a small town in the North-West he has the humbleness to make you forget who he is: the first UFC Light Weight title holder- a legend, a Pride veteran, a Shooto veteran, a top 5 Feather weight. All of that and he’s still a guy that will laugh with you one moment and cry with you the next.

From being abused as a child to being beaten by Urijah Faber, Jens has had his share of challenges. He’s overcame adversity to rise to the top of MMA and life. After beating Caol Uno in 2001 for the first every Light Weight title he went on to defend his title twice before leaving the UFC organization. Since then he has competed in Pride, Shooto, IFL and came full circle to find a home with the WEC- owned by Zuffa, LLC who also own the UFC. He’s 21-11-1 professionally and looking to make it an even 22 against Josh Grispi June 7th.

Going into the fight he’s extremely confident, but not overlooking “the Fluke”. He’s gotten back to the basics and stopped looking for the “magic potion” to guarantee wins. Jens realizes that there is no one to blame for his 0-3 losing streak but himself. Josh Grispi is looking for a catapult into the feather weight division, but Pulver won’t go down without a fight. During the training camp Jens said he’s, “getting back to what made me so good in the past.” He is working on his technique and movement- “the fundamentals;” just because he can take a heavy shot doesn’t mean he should.

This is the first article in a series on nutrition for hard training athletes.

MMA is arguably one of the most demanding sports a person can undertake. It requires explosive strength, massive cardiovascular endurance, a high tolerance for pain and mental toughness that most people couldn’t endure. The training regimen to be competitive in this sport is equally demanding. Many MMA athletes train multiple times per day. While people in other less demanding sports may get away without paying too much attention to their nutrition, an MMA fighter may quickly find out they are lacking the energy and motivation to focus which can quickly lead to poor performance and injury.

As our bodies undergo strenuous physical activity, a very complex cascade of chemical reactions takes place to produce energy. A byproduct of this intense chemical cascade is oxidative damage from increased production of free radicals. The harder the workout, the more free radicals are generated. Free radicals are basically molecules with a single unpaired electron in their outer shell. If you remember your chemistry classes; because these molecules are missing an electron they are now unstable and will try to reach equilibrium by replacing their lost electron. As they get in close proximity of other cells, they pull the electron with the weaker bond from those tissues, causing damage to those cells. Now the other cell has an unpaired electron in its outer shell and becomes a free radical itself. This causes a free radical chain reaction. Unfortunately, the cells that are most often damaged by this phenomenon are lungs, muscles and heart tissue. The symptoms of free radical damage will manifest as muscle soreness and inflammation. This can slow down recovery and do harm to an athlete’s health and performance.