Jens Pulver is finally back in the UFC. Carlos Arias, a reporter for the Orange County Register, is to first to report this story, and it has not been officially announced by the UFC.
In a prior story about the return of Hermes Franca to the UFC, I mentioned that the lightweight belt was vacated in 2002 when the only lightweight champion the UFC ever had, Jens Pulver, could not come to terms on a renewal contract. Pulver won the initial UFC belt against Caol Uno and defended the title against Dennis Hallman and BJ Penn.
Since leaving the UFC, Pulver has gone 7-2 fighting mostly in Pride and recently appeared in the International Fight League. Pulver’s only losses in that period came against Pride’s lightweight champion Takanori Gomi and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai.
Apparently, Dana White has also alluded to the fact that Jens Pulver may be one of the coaches on The Ultimate Fighter season 5.
In my mind Pulver still is the champion, since he never lost the belt. If there is a title bout between Sean Sherk vs. Kenny Florian/Sam Stout, look for a match between Pulver and the new title holder pretty soon.
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That will be total BS if Jens doesn’t have the opportunity to fight for the lightweight belt in the inaugural fight. As you mentioned he never lost the belt so he would be the best person in the octagon. Everyone loves “classic” fighters so it would be great for Dana and the UFC. It would be a great draw.