I recently purchased the Jens Pulver documentary "Driven" made by Gregory Bayne, which follows Jens' training camp for his fight against Javier "Showtime" Vasquez. It was a fight that caused me to write a post on Bloody Elbow. In hindsight, rereading it, it comes off as if I'm eulogizing Jens Pulver following another devastating loss. Jens Pulver is and always will be one of my favorite fighters and watching his post fight interviews always choke me up, as he always wears his emotions on his sleeve. When I found out that there was a movie about Jens Pulver, I jumped at the opportunity to have one of the limited released copies that come with extra features and have an autographed cover.
The film begins with Jens discussing if he's at his end as a fighter. He's faced a ton of adversity throughout his life both personally and professionally. His childhood is what most would describe as hell and his ability to overcome that adversity speaks to his strength of character. For those that are unaware and haven't read his biography, Jens was the child of an abusive drug addict alcoholic father who would not only beat him and and his brothers and mother, but also often would pull guns on them as well. To say that Jens carries these memories with him where ever he goes would be a major understatement. The fact that he's overcome such adversity in and of itself is amazing.
Jens has dedicated a lot of his time to speaking about his childhood. While other would want to internalize these emotional scars, he uses them to motivate himself to be a better person and a better father. He spends his time speaking at youth groups discussing how wrestling was the one outlet in his life that kept him going. It was his one escape as a child and kept him going through all the shit he dealt with during the rest of the week.
The movie explores Jens as a father. His move from Iowa to Idaho to open a his own gym also means he has the stress of worrying about his family's long term future. He has two kids (one from a previous marriage) and a wife to care for. He's no longer fighting to chase a belt or for his legacy. He's fighting to put food on the table and that is a very unfortunate situation. Out of all the early UFC champs, he's the only one who never had the massive payday to put him on easy street. His love for his son and wife are what drive him these days. He strives to be a better role model to his own son than his father was to him, and judging by the footage of the film, he's doing a damn good job.
The training aspect of the film is interesting but it's overshadowed by the more human aspect of the fight game that is rarely explored. Most "insider" shows such as UFC primetime or Countdown focus solely on the training for the fight and not on what else is going on in the fighter's life before the fight. There were some sparring sequences but the real focus of this documentary was to show Jens Pulver's life before his fight with Javier Vasquez.
It was a good documentary but I wish there was more. I wish Greg Bayne and Jens could get a release to use footage of his championship run as LW champ and his fights in PRIDE, which Zuffa owns. I feel that not having Jens' final speech after losing to Vasquez takes away from the film. I also wish that Greg would have gotten Dana White, Pat Miletich, and Reed Harris to appear in the film to give their opinions on Jens Pulver, it just would have added to an already fantastic film.
I also have the pre-order copy so there was additional footage that will not be seen in the digital and DVD release. Since the making of the film, the gym that Jens opened up has been closed down. There isn't much explanation about the situation but the clothing company and gym that he started have both been shut down. He's moved back to Iowa and isn't going to be training in Seattle anymore. I have mixed feeling on Jens Pulver wanting to still fight but it's more because I can't stand to see him lose. If he puts in the effort in the gym and is focused he can still compete, but I fear his best days are behind him. Whatever he chooses to do, I'll always be a fan.
I intend to get my hands on this. I agree wholeheartedly with not wanting to see Pulver lose again.
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