5 UFC fighters who held onto submissions for way too long

#3 BJ Penn

BJ Penn ended his feud with Jens Pulver by holding onto a choke for a little too long

Hawaiian legend BJ Penn was involved in some of the UFC’s most storied and intense feuds during his near-two decade career with the UFC, and his rivalries with Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes and Sean Sherk are still well-recalled by longtime MMA fans today. But perhaps his most bitter feud came against Jens ‘Lil’ Evil’ Pulver.

‘The Prodigy’ had challenged Pulver for the UFC Lightweight title in January 2002, but despite coming in as the betting favourite, came up short thanks to the champion’s submission defense, takedown defense, and superior boxing skills. After the fight, ‘Lil’ Evil’ had stated that he felt disrespected by the amount of people who had counted him out – and evidently, that didn’t sit well with Penn.

Six years later, the UFC decided to give the Lightweight division a bigger showcase by devoting a season of The Ultimate Fighter to it, and named Penn and Pulver as the coaches for the season – with the two veterans booked to face off against one another at the finale show.

The rivalry was instantly brought to the forefront, with the two men clashing on the TUF set and Pulver promising to knock Penn’s teeth out in the fight. ‘The Prodigy’ in turn told Pulver he’d break his left shoulder.

But although Penn dominated the fight, he broke his promise; he never went for his rival’s arm, instead locking in a second round rear naked choke to force the former champion to submit. And to send a message to Pulver, ‘The Prodigy’ kept the choke locked in for way too long – even when the referee attempted to separate the fighters.

Surprisingly, the infraction went largely ignored, perhaps because Pulver remained conscious when the hold was released. And evidently, the veteran held no grudge against Penn – instead stating that the feud was over in a post-fight interview and stating that he’d love to train with ‘The Prodigy’ instead.