Bodog Beat

BJ Penn will get a shot at redemption against Jens Pulver on June 23. (Photo Courtesy MMAweekly.com)

Mixed martial arts champion BJ Penn (10-4-1) is the heavy favorite heading into his fight against Jens Pulver (21-7-1).

Again.

In November of '02, Penn challenged Pulver for his UFC lightweight belt. Pulver was coming off four wins, with victories over Dennis Hallman (37-12-2), Caol Uno (23-9-4) and John Lewis (3-4-3). Still, nobody gave Pulver a chance. The first non-Brazilian to win the world-championships of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Penn had won his first three fights in devastating fashion, destroying Uno, Din Thomas (20-6-0) and Joey Gilbert (2-3-0) in back-to-back first round knock outs. Most fans of the sport thought that Jens Pulver's fate would be the same.

But Pulver proved everyone wrong, picking Penn apart with "dirty boxing" and takedown defense on his way to winning a majority decision. In the early rounds, Penn showed promise, tackling Pulver to the mat and applying an arm-lock as the second round came to an end. The horn sounded before Penn could finish the submission however and through the rest of the fight, "The Prodigy" seemed to fade. Unable to get the takedown or the knockout, Penn began dropping to the mat to pull Pulver into his guard. This too was unsuccessful and after five rounds the judges awarded the win to Jens "Little Evil" Pulver.

Both fighters have come a long way since their first encounter. After beating Takanori Gomi (27-3-0) in his home state of Hawaii, Penn defeated Matt Hughes (41-5-0) for the welterweight title, then Duane "Bang" Ludwig (15-6-0), Rodrigo Gracie (6-2-1) and Renzo Gracie (13-6-1). Returning to the octagon, he lost to Georges St. Pierre (13-2-0) and in a rematch against Hughes after separating his rib in the second round.

Pulver disappeared from the eight-sided cage following his win over Penn, fighting around North America and, eventually, in Japan. In the past five years, Pulver has gone 9-5, losing by knockout to Ludwig and Gomi, among others. His return to the octagon was an anti-climactic knock out loss to Joe Lauzon (14-3-0) in September of '06.

June 23, Penn will get his long-awaited rematch against his career nemesis. Although it is a non-title match, the winner will get both bragging rights and the chance to turn their career around.

For the second time, Penn is the heavy favorite to win at -450 and Pulver is the underdog at +300.

No other fights have been announced for the card.

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