FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : The Specialists BOOK REVIEW (pt. 1 of 4): Jens Pulver's "Little Evil: One Ultimate Fighter's Rise to the Top"

Mar 9, 2010 - 4:25:54 PM

By Eric Hobaugh, MMATorch Specialist

Jens Pulver's 2003 autobiography, “Little Evil, One Ultimate Fighter's Rise to the Top,” starts with his father lining up his three children and telling them he was about to kill them. Jens takes his readers on a harrowing ride starting with his early childhood in rural Washington state and culminating with his winning and retaining the first Lightweight title in UFC history.

The cover illustration of the book is as beautiful and scary as the story inside. Jens gives an excellent account of his life and how he used the adversity in his early childhood to rise above his situation. He has failure after success after failure after success. At one point, he spends two years living in a ghetto in Seattle after dropping out of Boise State following the loss of his wrestling scholarship.

During every step of his wrestling/MMA career, he is quick to acknowledge his coaches and teammates for making him the fighter he is. He finds in his coaches the father figure he did not have. How his mother was able to keep he and his brothers from being hurt is in itself an interesting story. Jens draws a parallel to his father's life, a world class jockey who looses his career to the bottle, and describes how he was able to escape the same fate.

The most interesting part of this book is the how he uses his misfortune to drive his ambition and dreams into a reality, while his brother Dusty eventually becomes one of the most wanted criminals in America. Their journey and the details of how they get there are gut-wrenching.

The book does slow in some areas when he self aggrandizes, but other than that, this book is well-written and interesting. Ghost writer Erich Krauss (has penned 20 other excellent books on MMA) does a great job keeping Jen's story interesting and focused.

This book is not a light read, but does shine some light on a true legend and pioneer of MMA. The book is a gritty look into the life of someone who has had to fight for everything, every day.

COMING UP: In parts two, three, and four later this month, I'll delver into the highs and lows of the book, the missing chapters, what I learned, and more.

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Eric Hobaugh is the MMATorch book reviewer. He breaks his review of MMA books into four formats that are published weekly, typically every Monday.

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