Photo: Dave Mandel
Former UFC lightweight champion and WEC featherweight title contender Jens Pulver will blog his thoughts and experiences leading up to his MMA Fight Pit “Genesis” showdown with Coty Wheeler for Sherdog.com readers.
Before I get in there, there is so much going on. It’s a busy week. Earlier today, I did a shoot with G4 TV for “Attack of the Show,” which is supposed to air on Thursday. After that, I had some training, and now, I’m going to spend time with my family before I fly out to New Mexico first thing tomorrow morning. The most important part of my day is definitely spending some time with my family. It is always tough to be away from my kids, so I always make sure I get some time in with them before I take off for a fight.
I’ve been doing a lot of interviews leading up to this scrap, and that will continue this week. Since this is a pay-per-view event, I’ve got to do some shoots in New Mexico tomorrow with the video crew. On Wednesday, there’s a media conference call and then open media workouts. We’ve also got the weigh-ins on Friday, and from what I hear, the promotion is trying to arrange for some of the fighters to visit wounded soldiers at a local military base in Albuquerque. I’d love to be a part of that.
Sometimes, younger guys and gals getting into MMA don’t realize there is so much more to being a professional fighter than what happens in the cage. Being a professional athlete means you’ll be doing interviews, making appearances and traveling a lot. And it’s all part of the game. As nice as it would be if it wasn’t the case, you simply can’t escape these kinds of responsibilities. Some of it can be fun, but it’s difficult to balance it all.
To me, the most important thing in this fight is to make sure that I make my fans, my team and my family proud. I want to put on the best performance that I possibly can. It’s important to me that the fans get their money’s worth and that I can walk out of the cage, win or lose, with my head held high. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that takes place.
I’ve got one more blog coming for Sherdog, so be sure and check back later in the week. If you’re near New Mexico, come out and see me this week at some of the various events MMA Fight Pit will be having. If not, make sure you tune in Saturday. If you get a chance, check out and “like” the Suckerpunch Entertainment fan page on Facebook. Some pretty cool stuff on there. As always, I want to say thank you to all the fans for their support. You guys make this whole machine go. Take care.