| The Ultimate Figter 5 Finale at the Palms |
Las Vegas, Nev. – April 24, 2007 – When former UFC® Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver defeated the seemingly invincible BJ Penn in 2002, he shocked the world and proved that when it comes to the Octagon™, nothing is impossible. Since then, Penn has plotted his revenge and waited seemingly in vain for the opportunity to avenge his first and most bitter defeat.
(PressZoom) - Las Vegas, Nev. – April 24, 2007 – When former UFC® Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver defeated the seemingly invincible BJ Penn in 2002, he shocked the world and proved that when it comes to the Octagon™, nothing is impossible. Since then, Penn has plotted his revenge and waited seemingly in vain for the opportunity to avenge his first and most bitter defeat. But on Saturday, June 23rd, these two 155-pound pioneers - who matched wits for six weeks as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter® Season 5 - square off in a rematch five years in the making and finally get the chance to settle their score with their fists when they battle in the main event on The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization and Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter 5 Season finale live from The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.
“Jens Pulver and BJ Penn were the first two lightweights to ever headline a UFC event, and they basically launched and legitimized this division,” said UFC President Dana White. “BJ has been dying for this rematch, and he claims that Pulver has been ducking him all this time, and Pulver’s side of it is, ‘I beat you, deal with it, and I will fight you again when I feel like it.’ The athletes in this sport always have so much respect for each other, but these two don’t at all – that always makes for an interesting fight.”
Tickets for The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale are $150.00, $250.00 and $350.00, plus any additional box office or service fees, and go on sale Thursday, April 26 at 12:00 pm. Please visit any Ticketmaster location, call 702-474-4000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com to purchase tickets.
The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale will also telecast live to millions of viewers on Spike TV starting at 9:00pm ET/PT.
UFC® Fight Club™ members have the opportunity now to purchase tickets to this event via the website www.ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Wednesday, April 25 at 10am PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com.
The Ultimate Fighter 5 live finale features an anticipated matchup between Penn and Pulver, the two coaches of Spike TV’s hit reality series.
Jens “Lil’ Evil” Pulver was the first lightweight champion in UFC history, and was undefeated in the UFC from 1999 to 2002, scoring victories over David Velasquez, Joao Roque, John Lewis, Caol Uno, and Dennis Hallman. Yet his greatest victory occurred in his first fight with BJ Penn at UFC 35 in January of 2002, where he became the first man ever to defeat “The Prodigy,” Pulver would leave the UFC after the fight due to a contract dispute, but after returning to the Octagon late in 2006 and following a stint as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter, he will now try to make it two in a row over his bitter rival.
BJ Penn was nicknamed "The Prodigy" due to his meteoric rise as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and then through the mixed martial arts ranks. A fearless fighter who has competed against heavyweights as well as lightweights and welterweights, this Hawaiian battler may be best remembered for scoring one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history when he rose 15 pounds in weight to take on and defeat Matt Hughes in his first-ever welterweight bout in 2004 . But despite his success, the night of January 11, 2002 still haunts him, and the only way to erase that memory is to defeat Pulver on June 23rd.
