Did anyone feel like pulver held back?

Question

I mean he stepped it up a few notches in the later rounds, but he seemed out of it, sometimes laughing off Uriah's blows. And he didn't seem to utilize his "magic" right hand.

Answer 1

I mean, "Holding back" would definitely be the wrong term here.

It's easy to judge when you have no fighting experience, but honestly, it looked like Pulver wasn't expecting the crisp and fast punching from Faber. As a matter of fact, almost no one expected Faber to have a better stand up game than Pulver.

In a situation like that, where you suddenly start to respect a portion of your opponent's abilities, most smart fighters naturally back down in that aspect- Pulver looked like he was waiting more than usual to get that right hand in because he wasn't looking to get knocked out while swinging for the fences. While you as a fan might not like it, you can't blame Pulver for doing so, as it was a smart move picking his spots to punch rather than letting loose and saying shucks to probability. Yes, you can win a fight that way, yes it's exciting, but no, you're probably going to lose fighting that way.

Pulver isn't the smartest fighter academically, but as a fighter he sure is experienced and intelligent- he's not going to use his favorite tool if he doesn't think it's the right time to do it. That would be kind of like seeing Crocop getting taken down, on his back, and you asking "Why isn't Crocop kicking?"

Answer 2

yeah i think he held back but uriah was to quick and didnt let him do anything.

Answer 3

Wow, i was thinking that too, he didn't look like himself.

Answer 4

Pulver had to respect the ground game of Faber so he could not get to close to get a take down. I think that in doing this Faber showed that he has the ability to stay on his feet. I think Pulver just showed mad respect for Faber because of his athleticism.

Answer 5

I definitely think he held back to some extent...I almost felt like he was waiting to get hit by Urijah to prove that he has an iron chin (which we all know about). He's got some killer combos and I saw him unlease a good flurry once in the fight...he could've thrown more leather but for some reasons didn't...

Answer 6

Not at all.  I think he was surprised by the speed of Faber.  Every time he looked to set something up Faber was first usually with a straight right hand.  A rematch would definitely be engaging as long as Jens brings a different game plan.

Answer 7

I think pulver held back a little after he saw that Faber was wiling to stand with him and be pretty effective. Faber demonstrated having a strong chin and this may have scared pulver. Pulver is starting to get old in my opinion and is prolly only going to get worse. Still have a lot of respect for the guy

Answer 8

Pulver did the best he could, and he did a good job.  He just got overwhelmed by a more explosive, more talented fighter, just like the second fight with Penn, no shame in that.

Answer 9

I think pulver was holding back.  Not direspecting Faber I think he is strong talented fighter but pulver just looked different.